Founders Financial Securities LLC Has $2.62 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Founders Financial Securities LLC lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 27.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,573 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,330 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $510,353,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after purchasing an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $756.85.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours 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 one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $801.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $739.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $376.83 billion, a PE ratio of 52.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Costco Wholesale Company 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.