Portside Wealth Group LLC Acquires 113 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Portside Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,492 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,522,000. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,494,000. Finally, RW Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,055.59 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $988.73 and a 200-day moving average of $977.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $468.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial upped 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. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

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.