Riverstone Advisors LLC Makes New $207,000 Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Riverstone Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 313 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $795.00 to $805.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $691.28.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $4.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $713.65. 676,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,100,947. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $730.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $657.77. The firm has a market cap of $316.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.77. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Yoram Rubanenko sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $680.33, for a total transaction of $1,700,825.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,020,750.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,442 shares of company stock worth $9,303,768. 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.