Centricity Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 489 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Centricity Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on 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, Barclays boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $1,014.94 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $993.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $979.81. The firm has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a PE ratio of 59.60, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.