Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $11.61 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,270 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,006.18 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $994.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $980.11. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $446.42 billion, a PE ratio of 59.08, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on 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. Loop Capital cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Nine research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock worth $7,816,895 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.