3,385 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Purchased by American National Bank & Trust Co. VA

American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,385 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,480,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $398,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 491,521 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $277,690,000 after acquiring an additional 31,633 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 200,761 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $113,415,000 after acquiring an additional 13,883 shares during the period. Hall Private Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors now owns 16,589 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,372,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the period. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $862.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $812.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $745.22. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $758.70.

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.