Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Alta Advisers Ltd

Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,266 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.8% of Alta Advisers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $3,095,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,325,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.4%

COST stock opened at $930.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.07, a PEG ratio of 5.64 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $952.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $972.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.