Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 299 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 68.48% of the stock is 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 on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $3.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $842.90. 3,288,384 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,835,039. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $373.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $829.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $753.54.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $799.33.

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.