Mezzasalma Advisors LLC Acquires 335 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,456 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.5% of Mezzasalma Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 a total of 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $2.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $974.90. 1,506,193 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,250. The firm has a market capitalization of $432.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,002.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $981.16. 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 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 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 analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend 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.