Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Increased by Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC

Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,227 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $810,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $390,630,000. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $297,915,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,088,673 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,180,016,000 after acquiring an additional 323,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,161,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $656,274,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $694.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $11.46 on Friday, reaching $743.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,323,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,560. 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 has a market cap of $329.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.65, a PEG ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $730.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $673.08. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $476.75 and a twelve month high of $787.08.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 30.35%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,727 shares of company stock worth $2,682,948 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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.