Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,826 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 39,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $37,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the first quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 16,934 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,015,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 3,840 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,632,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.3% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,153 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,982,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, TLW Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. TLW Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,601 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $12,864,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of COST stock opened at $982.36 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $435.66 billion, a PE ratio of 55.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.13 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,004.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $981.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Nine 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

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.