Slow Capital Inc. Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Slow Capital Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 27.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,412 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 3,723 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 2.2% of Slow Capital Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Slow Capital Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the 1st 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $13.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $967.68. 1,874,145 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,060,924. The business's fifty day moving average price is $1,002.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $982.43. 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 capitalization of $429.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.89, a P/E/G ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,547 shares of company stock valued at $13,396,790. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

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.