Atlas Brown Inc. Grows Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Atlas Brown Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,229 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 166 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.1% of Atlas Brown Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Atlas Brown Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. First National Corp MA ADV raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3 %

COST opened at $870.75 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $516.54 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $386.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $783.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $728.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $751.85.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

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

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.