Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 46.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,111 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 938 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $929,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. JSF Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 4,755 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,707,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 32,208 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $31,884,000 after buying an additional 10,616 shares during the last quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the second quarter. Kercheville Advisors LLC now owns 12,565 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,438,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the second quarter. Global Strategic Investment Solutions LLC now owns 1,587 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade 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 link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $910.94 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $953.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $972.16. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $403.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,067.19.

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.