Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,797 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,782,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during 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 last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $980.91 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,003.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $982.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $435.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.64, a PEG ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $793.00 and a 52 week high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of 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. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.