Waverly Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 69.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,866 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the 4th 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 boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,909 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.3 %

COST traded down $10.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $805.29. 864,058 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,980,774. The firm has a market capitalization of $357.01 billion, a PE ratio of 50.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $530.56 and a fifty-two week high of $896.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $842.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $768.40.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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.