L & S Advisors Inc Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

L & S Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 24.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,176 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,388 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 566 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,101,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $925.08 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $935.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $967.11. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $871.71 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.80, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly 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 year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale 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.