Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Costello Asset Management INC

Costello Asset Management INC increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,864 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $930.01 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $952.05 and a 200-day moving average of $971.48. The firm has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98.

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 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 company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report 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, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,066.23.

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.