Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Has $7.50 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,827 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,222 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.6% of Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Vima LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $824.50.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

COST traded up $5.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $881.42. 1,464,810 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,974,630. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $530.56 and a 1 year high of $896.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $390.76 billion, a PE ratio of 54.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $850.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $786.19.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

About Costco Wholesale

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.