Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $11.61 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,270 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,006.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $446.42 billion, a PE ratio of 59.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $994.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $980.11.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during 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%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $7,816,895 in the last 90 days. 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.