Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by First Dallas Securities Inc.

First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,211 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.1% of First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. First Dallas Securities Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Roth Mkm restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $756.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

COST stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $849.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,131,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,840,321. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $524.63 and a 1 year high of $873.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $376.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.66, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $801.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $739.18.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.