Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 432,534 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,788 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.9% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $409,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,789,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

COST opened at $933.99 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $990.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $984.21. The firm has a market cap of $414.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.