671 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Purchased by Greystone Financial Group LLC

Greystone Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 671 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,048,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. SRN Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 3,081 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 525 shares of the retailer's stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $10.49 on Wednesday, reaching $996.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,454,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,063,183. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $442.05 billion, a PE ratio of 58.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $996.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $980.41. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. 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 0.52%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.