Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Increases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,372 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Physicians Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 6,362 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,017,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. New Republic Capital LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 563 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 654 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $618,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maridea Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $935.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.87 billion, a PE ratio of 53.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $992.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $984.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on COST shares. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,037.48.

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.