Maple Capital Management Inc. Purchases 1,759 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Maple Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 63,930 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,759 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 4.3% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $63,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price for the company. Argus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $913.86 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $937.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $967.78. The company has a market cap of $405.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $871.71 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.