New Century Financial Group LLC Buys 38 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

New Century Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 412 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after purchasing an additional 132,292 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,844,581,000 after purchasing an additional 85,398 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $862.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $382.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50 day moving average is $812.88 and its 200 day moving average is $745.22. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $524.63 and a 12-month high of $873.96. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’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 value of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.