Picton Mahoney Asset Management Takes $4.02 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired 4,246 shares of Costco Wholesale valued at approximately $4,016,000 during the first quarter.
• Costco recently reported earnings of $4.28 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate of $4.24, with revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter.
• Costco will distribute a quarterly dividend of $1.30 on August 15th, with a current annualized yield of 0.56%.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,246 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $4,016,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $710,624,000 after acquiring an additional 343,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $280,046,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $12.88 on Friday, hitting $952.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,932,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,217,559. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $422.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $984.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $983.58.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business'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 company posted $3.78 EPS. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.