Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Qtron Investments LLC

Qtron Investments LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,866 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.8% of Qtron Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Alpha Family Trust increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.5% in the first quarter. Alpha Family Trust now owns 2,765 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. RW Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the first quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,794 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,480,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.2% during the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 30,606 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,947,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.4% during the first quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 2,516 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 43.5% during the first quarter. Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. now owns 515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital dropped 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $972.04 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $972.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $986.13. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.16 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. 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 has a market cap of $431.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.14, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 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.