Vista Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 33.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,052 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in 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 stake in 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 acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $984.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $436.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.80, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $1,001.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $981.18.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company 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 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. 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 issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. 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. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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