238 Shares in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) Purchased by Berry Wealth Group LP

Berry Wealth Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 238 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bluesphere Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $395,000. G2 Capital Management LLC OH bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $326,000. Retirement Guys Formula LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.9% during the first quarter. Retirement Guys Formula LLC now owns 2,874 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the first quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC now owns 1,353 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 426,717 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $403,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,647 shares of company stock worth $10,530,961 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $1,001.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $444.33 billion, a PE ratio of 56.83, a P/E/G ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1,003.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $981.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

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.