Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Holdings Raised by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,164 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,469 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $67,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $3,095,000. Finally, Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded down $2.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $950.95. The company had a trading volume of 2,110,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,067,122. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $421.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $998.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $982.67.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

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.