Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Has $1.93 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,037 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $236,000. Osprey Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.6% during the first quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,463 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 576.6% in the first quarter. Parkside Investments LLC now owns 2,429 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the first quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 850 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 16.6% in the first quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 407 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,002.71 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $998.80 and a 200-day moving average of $980.70. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. 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 $444.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.88, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

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.