Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by May Barnhard Investments LLC

May Barnhard Investments LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 559 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. May Barnhard Investments LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,665,921,000 after acquiring an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $996.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $996.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $980.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $442.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.53, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost 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 was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.