Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 1,800 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,270 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. RW Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $9,654,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washburn Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Washburn Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,140 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's 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 approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Nine investment 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.91 during trading on Thursday, reaching $1,002.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 735,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,058,010. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $444.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day moving average price is $996.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $980.41.

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 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date 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 0.52%. Costco Wholesale's dividend 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.