Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Lifted by Sitrin Capital Management LLC

Sitrin Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,589 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 4.3% of Sitrin Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sitrin Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Tobam raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 378 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Cedrus LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Cedrus LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,178,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,177 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $179,822,000 after acquiring an additional 61,122 shares during the period. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 866 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $925.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $925.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $821.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.8 %

COST stock traded up $15.50 on Friday, hitting $854.93. 1,710,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,297,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $379.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $844.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $776.31.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend 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.