Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Holdings Boosted by Drake & Associates LLC

Drake & Associates LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 21.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,901 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Drake & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crew Capital Management Ltd. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 243 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.7% in the first quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,827 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,728,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $433,000. Argentarii LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the first quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 5,004 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,733,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 10.2% in the first quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 162 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $986.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,005.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $981.38. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $437.39 billion, a PE ratio of 55.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,034.79.

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.