Sovran Advisors LLC Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Sovran Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 18.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,190 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $985.14 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $436.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.88, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $1,003.90 and a 200 day moving average of $981.05.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

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.

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