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

CapWealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,414 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.8% of CapWealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $510,353,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after purchasing an additional 552,492 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:COST traded up $6.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $886.85. 1,356,876 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,956,172. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $822.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $750.76. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $525.06 and a fifty-two week high of $896.67. The firm has a market cap of $393.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.95, a PEG ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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 paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $766.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.