Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Investment Partners LTD.

Investment Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,023 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $1.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $851.73. The stock had a trading volume of 290,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,956,981. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $796.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $736.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $524.63 and a 12 month high of $873.96. 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 has a market cap of $377.60 billion, a PE ratio of 53.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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 net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’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 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.