Marcum Wealth LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 887 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $4,522,000. Manuka Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Flavin Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $1,494,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,028.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,013.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $449.51 billion, a PE ratio of 59.49, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $788.20 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $979.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $974.01.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

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.