ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,809 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 55 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $1,014.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $993.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $979.66. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month 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 firm has a market cap of $450.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.60, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

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.