GDS Wealth Management Has $7.80 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• GDS Wealth Management increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 42%, bringing its total holdings to 8,250 shares valued at approximately $7.80 million.
• Costco's stock has been positively rated by analysts, with a recent consensus target price of $1,050.00 and a majority of analysts recommending a "Buy" rating.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, marking an annualized dividend of $5.20 and a dividend yield of 0.5%.

GDS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 42.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,250 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,440 shares during the quarter. GDS Wealth Management's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bosun Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Corps Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the first quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital cut 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 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $980.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $971.19 and a 200-day moving average of $986.09. The company has a market cap of $434.99 billion, a PE ratio of 55.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year high of $1,078.23.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for 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%. Costco Wholesale'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 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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