Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Aspire Growth Partners LLC

Aspire Growth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 356 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Aspire Growth Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GM Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,517,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.0% during the first quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 8,250 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440 shares in the last quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $201,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,501 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,203,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the first quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,627,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of COST opened at $980.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $971.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $986.09. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $434.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.64, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Costco Wholesale 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.