LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,933 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,430,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,020,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $984,000. Stanich Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,913 shares of the retailer's stock worth $10,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,024.03.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 41,077 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $15.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $979.32. 2,218,559 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,006,427. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.51 billion, a PE ratio of 57.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $981.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $950.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $702.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.02 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.09%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.