Safeguard Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Safeguard Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 349 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. First National Corp MA ADV boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 3,098 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 1,564 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Advisors LLC PA lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 2,736 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $862.44 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $516.54 and a 1-year high of $873.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.79. 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 50 day simple moving average of $785.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $729.10.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on COST shares. StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Gordon Haskett cut 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. Argus increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

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.