Strong Tower Advisory Services Acquires 51 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 26th, 2023

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) by 3.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,581 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 132.1% in the 4th quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 275.0% in the fourth quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 90 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Piershale Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Piscataqua Savings Bank raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.1% in the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 95 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 76.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $571.00 to $568.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $535.00 in a report on Thursday, April 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $560.00 in a research note on Friday, May 26th. TheStreet raised Costco Wholesale from a “c” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $548.72.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $524.44 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $447.90 and a 1 year high of $564.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $232.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average of $505.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $493.14.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The retailer reported $3.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.11. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.55% and a return on equity of 28.18%. The firm had revenue of $53.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 14.4 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 5th were issued a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 4th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.22%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Caton Frates sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.35, for a total value of $298,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,148,552. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Caton Frates sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $497.35, for a total value of $298,410.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,148,552. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.02, for a total transaction of $783,030.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,450,177. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

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Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.