Blue Square Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 297 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Blue Square Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 297 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,313 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 14,085 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Carlson Capital Management raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.3% in the third quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 2,016 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Comerica Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $81,016,000. Finally, GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,859,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $37.72 on Thursday, hitting $846.59. 6,011,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,985,298. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $825.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $751.69. The company has a market cap of $375.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78. 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 1-year low of $530.56 and a 1-year high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $796.56.

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.