Leavell Investment Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,138 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,514 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,201,000 after buying an additional 2,909 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 1,010 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 27,902 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,418,000 after buying an additional 1,627 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $14.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $877.35. 1,921,167 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,990,293. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $530.56 and a 52 week high of $896.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $847.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $780.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $388.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 2nd. Argus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $676.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.