OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys 588 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.2%, owning a total of 26,830 shares worth approximately $25.375 million after purchasing an additional 588 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included Director Susan L. Decker selling 547 shares for over $536,000, and EVP Yoram Rubanenko selling 4,000 shares for approximately $3.9 million, indicating a decrease in their respective holdings.
• Costco's recent quarterly report showed earnings per share of $4.28, exceeding estimates, while revenue reached $63.21 billion, marking an 8% year-over-year increase.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,830 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $25,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 732 shares of the retailer's stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. 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 research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock worth $10,067,740. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $1.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $943.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,606,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,307,594. The firm's fifty day moving average is $966.42 and its 200 day moving average is $981.17. 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 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $418.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. 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 firm posted $3.78 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.