827 Shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Acquired by Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC

Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 827 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $1.89 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $972.22. The stock had a trading volume of 673,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,215,157. The business's fifty day moving average is $1,003.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $982.24. 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 company has a market cap of $431.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.14, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.