Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,113 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.9% of Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,095,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $930.01 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $952.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $972.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.16 billion, a PE ratio of 51.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was 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 owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.