Parisi Gray Wealth Management Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Parisi Gray Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,676 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.5% of Parisi Gray Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Parisi Gray Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,108,655 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,287,718,000 after purchasing an additional 333,308 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after acquiring an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,134,947 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,901,040,000 after acquiring an additional 210,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth about $2,328,844,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $580.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $732.76. The stock had a trading volume of 117,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,133,009. The company has a market capitalization of $324.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $723.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $641.98. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $476.75 and a 52 week high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The business had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total value of $927,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $714.83, for a total value of $1,072,245.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,785,786.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.