Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 2,783 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 43.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,142 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,783 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $2.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $974.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,506,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,065,457. The company has a market capitalization of $432.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,002.39 and a 200-day moving average of $981.12.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 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.