Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Riverbend Wealth Management LLC

Riverbend Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 278 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the quarter. Riverbend Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,654,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,134,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $986.54 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,004.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $981.29. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market cap of $437.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.