Saxon Interests Inc. Raises Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Saxon Interests Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 574 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,302,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% in the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $859.36 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $524.63 and a 12 month high of $873.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $804.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $742.15. The firm has a market cap of $380.98 billion, a PE ratio of 53.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

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.