LVW Advisors LLC Has $1.13 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 29.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,541 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $849.99 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $801.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $740.64. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $524.63 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $756.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale 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.