MV Capital Management Inc. Has $4.22 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,460 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 176 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Capital & Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,441,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in 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 during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,007.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $446.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.15, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. 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 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $995.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $980.29.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

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.