Kimelman & Baird LLC Makes New Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 65,305 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $55,508,000. Costco Wholesale makes up 4.6% of Kimelman & Baird LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $885.62 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $870.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $817.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The stock has a market cap of $392.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

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.