Ethic Inc. Purchases 1,588 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 12% during Q1, bringing its total to 14,768 shares valued at approximately $14.1 million.
• Several other hedge funds also added to their Costco positions, with Aberdeen Group plc expanding its holdings by 68%, and total institutional ownership of the stock now at 68.48%.
• Costco announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, which will be paid on August 15, and has a payout ratio of 29.5%.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,768 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 68.0% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 381,354 shares of the retailer's stock worth $357,352,000 after acquiring an additional 154,373 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,997,863 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,889,365,000 after buying an additional 35,113 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,745,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 3,200 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,026,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Waypoint Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,446 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,367,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $975.39 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.16 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. 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 market capitalization of $432.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $973.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $985.83.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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