Affinity Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 627 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 23,579 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,634 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 513 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 37,582 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $27,534,000 after purchasing an additional 3,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Valley Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 3,917 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,868,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $2.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $857.73. 186,380 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,965,460. 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 fifty day moving average price of $793.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $735.97. The firm has a market cap of $380.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.01, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $522.10 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $756.85.

About Costco Wholesale

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.