Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA Buys 1,498 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,309 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,498 shares during the quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $485,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $10.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $975.83. 966,282 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,069,405. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $432.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.97. The business's fifty day moving average price is $1,005.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $981.68.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.