25,725 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Bought by Mediolanum International Funds Ltd

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 25,725 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $18,833,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RIA Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% in the first quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,665 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,220,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 10.7% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,353 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 50.5% in the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,994 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. MRA Advisory Group bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $372,000. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 107.7% in the first quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 1,545 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $2.54 on Wednesday, hitting $884.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,740,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,954,451. The stock has a market cap of $392.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $822.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $750.76. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $526.15 and a 52-week high of $896.67.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Loop Capital increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $766.73.

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.