Argent Advisors Inc. Acquires 32 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Argent Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,341 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,657,994 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,754,489,000 after acquiring an additional 77,345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. 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 note on Friday, May 31st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $5.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $892.38. 1,931,611 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,963,146. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $539.31 and a 12 month high of $918.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $853.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $792.84. 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 company has a market capitalization of $395.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

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.