Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by G&S Capital LLC

G&S Capital LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 140.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 533 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 311 shares during the quarter. G&S Capital LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4%

COST traded down $3.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $982.36. 1,604,953 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,075,149. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,004.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $981.09. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $435.66 billion, a PE ratio of 55.72, a PEG ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation 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 dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale 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.