Rep. Bruce Westerman Purchases Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Representative Bruce Westerman (R-Arkansas) recently bought shares of Costco Wholesale Co. NASDAQ: COST. In a filing disclosed on April 16th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $1,001 and $15,000 in Costco Wholesale stock on March 3rd. The trade occurred in the Representative's "FISHER IRA" account.

Representative Bruce Westerman also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of LVMH Moët Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, Société Européenne OTCMKTS: LVMUY on 4/2/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Sony Group NYSE: SONY on 3/24/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group NYSE: MUFG on 3/21/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of BP NYSE: BP on 3/21/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Procter & Gamble NYSE: PG on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Medtronic NYSE: MDT on 3/20/2025.
• Purchased $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of ASML NASDAQ: ASML on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Visa NYSE: V on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Microsoft NASDAQ: MSFT on 3/20/2025.
• Sold $1,001 - $15,000 in shares of Broadcom NASDAQ: AVGO on 3/20/2025.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $26.75 on Friday, reaching $994.50. 2,705,128 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,016,146. The stock has a market capitalization of $441.24 billion, a PE ratio of 58.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $706.17 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $975.99 and a 200 day moving average of $952.83.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Costco Wholesale

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after buying an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after acquiring an additional 149,209 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,182,316,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten research 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,024.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

About Representative Westerman

Bruce Westerman (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Arkansas' 4th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2015. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. Westerman (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Arkansas' 4th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election. Westerman earned his BSBAGE in biological and agricultural engineering from the University of Arkansas in 1990 and his MF in forestry from Yale University in 2001. His professional experience includes working as a plant engineer for Riceland Foods and an engineer/forester for Mid-South Engineering Company.

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.