Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Has $1.63 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,727 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,634,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,014.94 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $993.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $979.31. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $450.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.60, 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.