Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Position Increased by Level Four Advisory Services LLC

Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,501 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tradition Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the first quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,627,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the first quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,729 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,527,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,164 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,722,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC now owns 4,940 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,672,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 23.2% during the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 11,523 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,712,000 after buying an additional 2,168 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.4%

COST stock opened at $994.57 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.16 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. 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 cap of $441.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.41, a PEG ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average of $971.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $986.14.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.