6,700 Shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Purchased by Gibraltar Capital Management Inc.

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,700 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $6,337,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $485,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after buying an additional 36,384 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ COST traded down $11.92 on Thursday, hitting $970.17. The stock had a trading volume of 2,892,946 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,083,078. The stock has a market cap of $430.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The business's fifty day moving average price is $1,005.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $981.68.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

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.