Prosperitas Financial LLC Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Prosperitas Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,638 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 258 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.3% of Prosperitas Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Prosperitas Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 172.6% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,357,548 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $730,877,000 after acquiring an additional 859,599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

COST traded up $1.69 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $719.97. 376,365 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,096,750. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $730.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $657.77. The firm has a market cap of $319.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares in the company, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,442 shares of company stock valued at $9,303,768. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.