Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Claro Advisors LLC

Claro Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,031 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $845.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $374.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.40, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $524.63 and a 1-year high of $873.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $801.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $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 data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price 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. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Argus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.