ICONIQ Capital LLC Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• ICONIQ Capital LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.5%, owning 2,472 shares valued at approximately $2.34 million after acquiring additional shares during the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds raised their positions in Costco, with notable increases such as Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosting its stake by 45.0% during the fourth quarter.
• Costco reported strong earnings of $4.28 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, reflecting a 0.5% dividend yield.

ICONIQ Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 23.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,472 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. ICONIQ Capital LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,721 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $20,819,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. 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 note on Thursday, August 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $958.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $425.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.37, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day moving average of $969.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $985.06. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.16 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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