Summit Trail Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 46.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,709 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 4,339 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.4% of Summit Trail Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Summit Trail Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine equities 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, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4%

COST traded down $3.60 on Wednesday, reaching $982.36. 1,604,953 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,072,369. The company has a market cap of $435.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,004.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $981.09.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted 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 net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.