Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is ProShare Advisors LLC’s 10th Largest Position

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 567,737 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 94,065 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.2% of ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $520,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 59.3% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,024.03.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $991.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $439.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $778.52 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $958.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $965.34.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 30.36%.

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.