Veracity Capital LLC Buys 234 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Veracity Capital LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,410 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research reports. Gordon Haskett lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $863.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $812.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $745.22. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $382.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS 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. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.