ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 94,065 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 19.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 567,737 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 94,065 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.2% of ProShare Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Costco Wholesale worth $520,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.7%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $991.54 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $778.52 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $958.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $965.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.22, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

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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