Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Oak Ridge Investments LLC

Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,958 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.2% of Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Oak Ridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 892 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arlington Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,295 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 2.7 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $23.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $885.67. The company had a trading volume of 2,620,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,559,025. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $524.63 and a 12 month high of $886.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $816.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $746.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $392.64 billion, a PE ratio of 54.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Investors of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.