Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Boosted by Raleigh Capital Management Inc.

Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2,725.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $11,793,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 633,702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $358,017,000 after acquiring an additional 103,671 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,858 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,569,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 1,817 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.3% in the third quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of COST opened at $855.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $774.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $722.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $516.54 and a 12-month high of $856.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $379.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.