Wedmont Private Capital Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,821 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,608,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $729,476,000 after acquiring an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,014.94 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $993.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $979.66.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

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.

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