Rheos Capital Works Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 32.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,800 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Rheos Capital Works Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded down $3.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $844.87. 302,315 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,971,211. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $521.26 and a 52-week high of $873.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $788.13 and a 200 day moving average of $732.58. The company has a market cap of $374.56 billion, a PE ratio of 52.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

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.