Global Assets Advisory LLC Takes $510.35 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 696,604 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $510,353,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.7% of Global Assets Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Global Assets Advisory LLC owned 0.16% of Costco Wholesale at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $848.16 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.55, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $521.26 and a 1-year high of $873.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $790.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $734.25.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.