Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Fjell Capital LLC

Fjell Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 32.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,511 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 2.4% of Fjell Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Fjell Capital LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 961.7% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 23,146 shares of the retailer's stock worth $21,891,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,471 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $30,711,000 after buying an additional 2,410 shares during the last quarter. Breakwater Capital Group increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 13.8% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 1,129 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.8% in the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 47,915 shares of the retailer's stock worth $45,317,000 after acquiring an additional 14,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retireful LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $328,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,010.81 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $448.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $992.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $978.72.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.

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