Kera Capital Partners Inc. Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 404.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,175 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,163,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,056.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,147 shares of company stock valued at $5,031,130. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $967.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $429.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $960.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $975.04. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.