Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,037 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,441,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $1,214,000. May Barnhard Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $485,000. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 3,852 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

COST stock opened at $1,002.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $998.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $980.70. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The stock 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. Corporate 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.