Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,291 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $23,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. The trade was a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

COST opened at $1,014.94 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $993.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $979.81. The company has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. 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 note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

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.