WCM Investment Management LLC Invests $395,000 in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 425 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st 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. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4%

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $3.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $986.27. 1,101,351 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,074,110. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $1,005.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $981.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $437.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.94, a PEG ratio of 6.14 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 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 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.