River Street Advisors LLC Purchases 122 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

River Street Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,155 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.1% of River Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $473,000. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 24.2% in the 3rd quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 2,294 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,032 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381 shares during the period. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.8% during the third quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 427 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,489 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,361,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock traded down $0.63 during trading on Friday, reaching $849.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,131,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,321. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $801.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $739.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $376.83 billion, a PE ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company 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 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders 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 was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $756.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.