Lesa Sroufe & Co Buys New Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new stake 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 institutional investor bought 310 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 5,313 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 14,085 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 2,016 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,139,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $81,016,000. Finally, GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,859,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. 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 report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $796.56.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $37.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $846.59. 6,011,043 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,985,298. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $825.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $751.69. 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 stock has a market cap of $375.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $530.56 and a fifty-two week high of $896.67.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors 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 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.