Kowal Investment Group LLC Acquires 48 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kowal Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 954 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $473,000. Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 35.3% in the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,684 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 65.3% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,153,000 after purchasing an additional 5,703 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 600.0% in the third quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 3,500 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,767,810 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,000,345,000 after purchasing an additional 147,720 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $845.67 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $524.63 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96. The stock has a market cap of $374.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.40, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $801.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $740.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $756.85.

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.