Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 306,423 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 786 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.6% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $289,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% in the 1st 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" 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. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $6.85 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $934.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,316,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,216. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $414.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.97. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $995.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $983.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.