Centaurus Financial Inc. Acquires 222 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,514 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,052,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in 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 during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $4,522,000. Manuka Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $258,000. Finally, Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $1,494,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $1,017.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $977.74 and a 200-day moving average of $973.74. The firm has a market cap of $451.58 billion, a PE ratio of 59.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $788.20 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

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.