IFM Investors Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

By Puerto Rico Digital News On Aug 1, 2022

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) by 19.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,866 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 11,444 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 0.6% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $39,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 661 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 10,157 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,766,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 6,234 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 67.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.60, for a total value of $505,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,019,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.60, for a total value of $505,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,019,200. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP James P. Murphy sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $464.00, for a total value of $1,160,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 37,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,506,720. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,300 shares of company stock valued at $2,609,904 in the last quarter. 0.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $605.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale to $525.00 in a research note on Friday, June 3rd. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $580.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $555.00 to $565.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $571.72.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $541.30 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $483.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.73. The company has a market capitalization of $239.78 billion, a PE ratio of 42.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $406.51 and a 52 week high of $612.27.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 26th. The retailer reported $3.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.00 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $52.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.49 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.71% and a net margin of 2.60%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.75 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 13.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 29th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 28th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.35%.

About Costco Wholesale

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Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.