Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Takes $297,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 314 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $95,452,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $12.50 on Friday, hitting $990.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,782,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064,562. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $998.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $980.70. The company has a market capitalization of $439.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm 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 business earned $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. 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. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on COST shares. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine research 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale 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.