Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Raised by Lazard Asset Management LLC

28 Jul 2024, 15:24 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) by 656.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 101,028 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 87,672 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $74,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $799.33.

View Our Latest Report on Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $2.81 on Friday, hitting $817.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,441,455 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,059,285. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $841.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $766.74. 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 current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $362.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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