Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Has $4.71 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 21.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,974 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 874 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.8% of Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $1,051.69 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $991.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $978.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $466.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.76, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is a boost 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 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the 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 trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.