Kathmere Capital Management LLC Purchases 748 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 29.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,300 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 748 shares during the quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $849.99 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $801.95 and its 200 day moving average is $739.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $524.63 and a 52-week high of $873.96. The firm has a market cap of $376.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

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.