Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,405 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.1% during the first quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 936 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.4% during the first quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 7,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,257,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.6% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,592 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,750 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the first quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 4,942 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,674,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 11.9% during the first quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC now owns 788 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,056.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $468.91 billion, a PE ratio of 62.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $986.39 and a 200 day moving average of $977.03. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

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.