Boltwood Capital Management Buys 204 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Boltwood Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 16.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,464 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.5% in the first quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,879 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,451,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the first quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 1,021 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. KWB Wealth increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.3% in the first quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 1,990 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,823,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.2% in the first quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,055 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,836,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Management Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,969,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $1,051.69 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $991.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $978.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The company has a market cap of $466.62 billion, a PE ratio of 61.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.36%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.