Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,298 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $3.76 on Tuesday, hitting $851.18. 820,686 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,985,486. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $838.64 and a 200-day moving average of $762.76. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $530.56 and a 12-month high of $896.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $377.35 billion, a PE ratio of 52.70, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Costco Wholesale 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.