Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $24.68 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,688 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $24,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. KPP Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth $398,000. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 491,521 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $277,690,000 after purchasing an additional 31,633 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 200,761 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $113,415,000 after buying an additional 13,883 shares during the last quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.5% during the third quarter. Hall Private Wealth Advisors now owns 16,589 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,372,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ COST traded up $7.59 on Friday, reaching $870.25. The company had a trading volume of 169,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,944,402. 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 stock has a market cap of $385.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $812.88 and its 200-day moving average is $745.22.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 value of $567,445.10. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale 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.