Csenge Advisory Group Purchases 385 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,221 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $950.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $421.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $998.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $982.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

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.