Grandfield & Dodd LLC Buys 221 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,883 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,834,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AJ Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.2% in the second quarter. AJ Advisors LLC now owns 249 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 12,892 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $12,762,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 1,120 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $311,000. Finally, Intrua Financial LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 48.8% in the second quarter. Intrua Financial LLC now owns 942 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $933,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.2%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $925.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $409.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $935.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $967.11. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. Argus upped their target price on shares of 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. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on 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. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’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 owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.