Rep. Bruce Westerman Purchases Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Representative Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) recently bought shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST). In a filing disclosed on April 16th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Costco Wholesale stock on March 3rd. The trade occurred in the Representative’s “FISHER IRA” account.

Representative Bruce Westerman also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, Société Européenne (OTCMKTS:LVMUY) on 4/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Sony Group (NYSE:SONY) on 3/24/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (NYSE:MUFG) on 3/21/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of BP (NYSE:BP) on 3/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) on 3/20/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Visa (NYSE:V) on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 – $15,000 in shares of Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) on 3/20/2025.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $994.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $702.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $975.99 and a 200 day moving average of $952.32. The company has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,600 shares of company stock worth $5,215,915. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Institutional Trading of Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morse Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.1% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 7,481 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,632,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 7,996 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,088,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 76.8% during the third quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 633 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,649 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

About Representative Westerman

Bruce Westerman (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2015. His current term ends on January 3, 2027.

Westerman (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.

Westerman earned his BSBAGE in biological and agricultural engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1990 and his MF in forestry from Yale University in 2001. His professional experience includes working as a plant engineer for Riceland Foods and an engineer/forester for Mid-South Engineering Company.

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.