Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Raised by Acute Investment Advisory LLC

Acute Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 515 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 27 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.2% of Acute Investment Advisory LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Acute Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. United Bank grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after buying an additional 444 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 33.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $220,948,000 after buying an additional 96,566 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 87.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $0.86 on Wednesday, reaching $716.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 322,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,086,516. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $317.91 billion, a PE ratio of 46.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $730.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $658.84.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.