Richmond Investment Services LLC Purchases New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Richmond Investment Services LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 352 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $322,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Grassi Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 5,155 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,723,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,441,000 after buying an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $485,000. Finally, Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $0.45 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $1,018.24. 560,661 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,045,125. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $977.74 and a 200 day moving average of $973.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $451.78 billion, a PE ratio of 59.79, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $788.20 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,024.03.

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.