Veracity Capital LLC Acquires 234 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Veracity Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,410 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $458,000. Whelan Financial raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 19.3% during the first quarter. Whelan Financial now owns 691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $206,000. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $2,480,000. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 10.2% during the first quarter. New Century Financial Group LLC now owns 412 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $863.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.77 billion, a PE ratio of 53.45, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $524.63 and a twelve month high of $873.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $812.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $745.22. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company 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%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend 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

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.