Advance Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Advance Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 417 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Advance Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 101,956 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $96,428,000 after purchasing an additional 5,888 shares during the last quarter. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the first quarter. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management now owns 11,522 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,897,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.3% during the first quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 1,160 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 11.5% in the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 5,164 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,884,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.7% in the first quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 1,119 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,059,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,048.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $983.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $975.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $465.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.58, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast 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 issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.36%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.