Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 1,921 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,849 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,921 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $40,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $236,000. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,134,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $241,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,976 shares of the retailer's stock worth $63,200,000 after acquiring an additional 16,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $3.91 on Friday, hitting $986.27. 1,101,351 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,074,110. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,005.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $981.20. 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 company has a market cap of $437.39 billion, a PE ratio of 55.94, a PEG ratio of 6.14 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. 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. 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.