IMZ Advisory Inc Takes Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

IMZ Advisory Inc bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 380 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $360,000. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.2% of IMZ Advisory Inc's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of COST stock traded down $1.26 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1,055.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,990,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,052,260. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $986.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $977.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. 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 capitalization of $468.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

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.