Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $51.57 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,526 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,442 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $51,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in 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. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of COST traded up $3.03 on Wednesday, hitting $944.64. 936,091 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,061,330. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $998.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $983.64. The company has a market capitalization of $418.93 billion, a PE ratio of 53.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. 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 prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

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.