Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Acquires New Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 314 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 35 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $1,002.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $444.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.88, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $998.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $980.70.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.