Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Rockingstone Advisors LLC

Rockingstone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,268 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.4% of Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Rockingstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,007.27 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $446.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.15, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $995.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $980.29.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

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.