Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 943 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1 %

COST stock traded up $9.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $871.75. 345,895 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,945,784. The stock has a market cap of $386.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $524.63 and a fifty-two week high of $873.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $812.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $745.22.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

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.