Royal Fund Management LLC Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 129.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 958 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $847.75. The stock had a trading volume of 248,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,969,994. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $788.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $732.58. The firm has a market cap of $375.83 billion, a PE ratio of 52.56, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $521.26 and a twelve month high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend 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.