Mezzasalma Advisors LLC Acquires 335 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Mezzasalma Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,456 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.5% of Mezzasalma Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. RW Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,654,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Umpqua Bank grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $977.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,002.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $981.16. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $433.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.46, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.