Optas LLC Has $1.69 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Optas LLC reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,301 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 82 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,686,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $849.99 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a PE ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $801.95 and its 200 day moving average is $740.64. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued 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 an average price target of $756.85.

About Costco Wholesale

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.