Hoffman Alan N Investment Management Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Hoffman Alan N Investment Management lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,522 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 5.6% of Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Collier Financial bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% 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 quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $1,048.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $465.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.58, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $983.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $975.63. 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

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.