Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Scott Capital Advisors LLC

Scott Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,404 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 66 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.3% of Scott Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Scott Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other 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 value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $851.52 on Monday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $801.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $740.64. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $524.63 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96. The firm has a market cap of $377.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price objective (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $756.85.

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.