Integrity Alliance LLC. Acquires 12,455 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Integrity Alliance LLC significantly increased its stake in Costco, purchasing an additional 12,455 shares, representing a 271.4% growth in its holdings to a total of 17,044 shares valued at $16.12 million.
• Several institutional investors also raised their positions in Costco, with Vanguard Group and GAMMA Investing showing notable increases to their ownership stakes.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30, translating to an annualized payout of $5.20 and a dividend yield of 0.5%.

Integrity Alliance LLC. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 271.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,044 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 12,455 shares during the quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price 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. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price 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. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,056.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,147 shares of company stock worth $5,031,130. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $3.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $967.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,460,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,950,274. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $960.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $975.04. The firm has a market cap of $429.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.