Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Rise Advisors LLC

Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 748 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $3,628,694,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,901,040,000 after buying an additional 210,586 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,336,198,000 after buying an additional 132,292 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $862.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $516.54 and a one year high of $873.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $785.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $729.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $752.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.