Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 42.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,631 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2 %

COST traded up $1.72 on Monday, reaching $850.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 544,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,972,626. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $788.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $732.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $376.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $521.26 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.