CGN Advisors LLC Makes New $2.13 Million Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

CGN Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,254 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,132,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,522,000. Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,494,000. Finally, RW Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,153,000 after buying an additional 989 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6%

COST opened at $1,056.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $468.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.06, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $986.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $977.03. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total transaction of $3,351,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.