Waterway Wealth Management LLC Invests $224,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Waterway Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 306 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $849.99 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $524.63 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The company has a market cap of $376.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $801.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $740.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Argus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $756.85.

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.