Embree Financial Group Purchases 135 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Embree Financial Group increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 892 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Embree Financial Group’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carson Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 327 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 128.6% in the 1st quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,605 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 167.7% in the 1st quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 878 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $18,833,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:COST traded down $2.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $884.31. 1,740,527 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,954,451. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $825.62 and its 200-day moving average is $751.69. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $526.15 and a 12-month high of $896.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $766.73.

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.