ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Purchases 322 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,673 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in 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 during the period. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of COST stock traded down $3.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $1,051.69. 1,420,603 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,049,748. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $988.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $977.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $466.62 billion, a PE ratio of 61.76, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 30.36%.

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.