Dover Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Dover Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,143 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,081,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $236,000. RW Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,153,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,654,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $990.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $439.14 billion, a PE ratio of 58.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,000.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $980.83.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

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.