Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.5% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after buying an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $849.99 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $376.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $801.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $739.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Argus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Telsey Advisory Group raised 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. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $756.85.

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.