Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Position Lifted by Aprio Wealth Management LLC

Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 51.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 674 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $494,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after buying an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after buying an additional 552,492 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $297,915,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $848.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $519.34 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $788.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $730.83. The firm has a market cap of $376.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.56, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently 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.