Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Purchased by LifeSteps Financial Inc.

LifeSteps Financial Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,548 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.1% of LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $914.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $405.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $952.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $971.37. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.