Navalign LLC Acquires 1,020 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Navalign LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 126.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,827 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Navalign LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after acquiring an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.0%

COST traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $970.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,939,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,105. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $1,003.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $981.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $430.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 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.