Grove Bank & Trust Buys 4,080 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 142.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,937 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 4,080 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during 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 period. 44 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during 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 period. SRN Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during 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 period. Miramar Capital LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during 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 period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ COST opened at $984.36 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $436.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.80, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,001.94 and a 200-day moving average of $981.18.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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