Regatta Capital Group LLC Buys 232 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Regatta Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,718 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.0% of Regatta Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Regatta Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9%

COST opened at $1,006.18 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day moving average is $994.50 and its 200 day moving average is $980.11. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.08, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This trade represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,816,895 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.