Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Lion Street Advisors LLC

Lion Street Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,522 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 427 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 2.6% of Lion Street Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Lion Street Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th 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 period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. RW Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,153,000 after buying an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,654,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. 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 target price for the company. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $977.72 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1,002.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $981.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $433.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

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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