Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Has $4.45 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,736 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 63.8% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 113 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.8% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,787 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,139,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 19.0% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,684 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Wealth Partners LLC now owns 436 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,307 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,778,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $601.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $721.86. 1,612,268 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,062,339. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $476.75 and a 1-year high of $787.08. The company has a market cap of $320.14 billion, a PE ratio of 47.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $730.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $664.86.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,727 shares of company stock valued at $2,682,948. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.