Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,127 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $974.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,002.39 and a 200-day moving average of $981.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $432.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

About Costco Wholesale

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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