Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Shira Ridge Wealth Management

Shira Ridge Wealth Management raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,649 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.8% of Shira Ridge Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Shira Ridge Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction 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. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $7,816,895. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,006.18 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $446.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $994.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $980.11.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

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.