Albion Financial Group UT Has $22.34 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,495 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 56 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.7% of Albion Financial Group UT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $22,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 14,887 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,907,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,914,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the first quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,157,350 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $847,909,000 after buying an additional 9,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $758.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $3.30 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $862.66. 814,202 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,958,380. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $524.63 and a one year high of $873.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $807.29 and its 200 day moving average is $743.56. 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 firm has a market cap of $382.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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.