Kure Advisory LLC Acquires Shares of 383 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kure Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 383 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $362,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.3% of Kure Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 3.9%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $40.88 on Thursday, hitting $1,010.81. 3,274,814 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,055,832. The company has a fifty day moving average of $991.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $978.09. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market capitalization of $448.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.