Carret Asset Management LLC Has $2.93 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Carret Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,004 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,353,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after buying an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after buying an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 2nd. Telsey Advisory Group increased 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. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $3.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $862.66. The company had a trading volume of 810,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,958,353. 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 $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The firm has a market cap of $382.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $807.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $743.56.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend 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.