Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Farrell Financial LLC

Farrell Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 522 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Farrell Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ COST opened at $996.78 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $442.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.53, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. 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 50-day moving average of $996.91 and a 200-day moving average of $980.41.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

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.