Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. Has $487,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 43.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 515 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $972.04 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $431.08 billion, a PE ratio of 55.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $972.25 and a 200 day moving average of $986.13. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% 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 $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

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.