Park Edge Advisors LLC Has $1.06 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Park Edge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,450 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 price target (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $3.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $862.66. The stock had a trading volume of 814,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,709,054. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $810.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $744.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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.