Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 947 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,088 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $990.21 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $439.14 billion, a PE ratio of 58.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company's 50 day moving average is $1,000.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $981.10.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current 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 $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% 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 Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company'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 $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,035.32.

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.

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