Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by PGGM Investments

PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 31.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,231 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,163 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,748,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 16,553 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,926,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $250,000. Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 9,970 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,720,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,557 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,289,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $805.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $5.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $822.08. The company had a trading volume of 2,598,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,416. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $843.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $770.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $530.56 and a one year high of $896.67. The company has a market capitalization of $364.45 billion, a PE ratio of 50.93, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.