Centaurus Financial Inc. Buys 454 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,343 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 65.6% in the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 5,900 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after purchasing an additional 2,337 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $23,511,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $11,793,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 19.6% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 633,702 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $358,017,000 after acquiring an additional 103,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TRUE Private Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.2% during the third quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 7,731 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,368,000 after acquiring an additional 587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $751.85.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $9.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $855.67. 1,395,485 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,735,517. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $516.54 and a 12-month high of $856.18. 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 company has a market cap of $379.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.02, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $774.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $721.45.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’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 transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.