Headlands Technologies LLC Boosts Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 144.9%, holding shares now valued at approximately $5.38 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Costco's stock has received mixed analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $1,037.48 amid various upgrades and downgrades from major firms.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30, with the ex-dividend date set for August 1, highlighting a relatively low yield of 0.5%.

Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 144.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,684 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,363 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock worth $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $710,624,000 after buying an additional 343,390 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. The trade was 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 worth $9,472,510 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,040.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $3.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $980.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,188,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,172,175. 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 stock has a market cap of $435.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.64, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $977.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $984.85. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $837.63 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company 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 firm posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

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.