True North Advisors LLC Purchases 170 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

True North Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,071 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.2% of True North Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $847.51. The company had a trading volume of 467,552 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,972,235. The company has a market capitalization of $375.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.34, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $521.26 and a 12-month high of $873.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $788.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $732.58. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. 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. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.