Howard Capital Management Group LLC Has $53.99 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,088 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 723 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 4.2% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Howard Capital Management Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $53,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction 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 approximately $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $10,825,205. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of COST stock opened at $1,002.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $998.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $980.70. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $444.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.88, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on COST. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,035.32.

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.