Principal Street Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Principal Street Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,003 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,034.34 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $963.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $969.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $458.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.74, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $788.20 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

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.