Nvest Financial LLC Acquires 253 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Nvest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,037 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.6% of Nvest Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after acquiring an additional 310,197 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.04.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $954.99 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $951.44 and its 200 day moving average is $971.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $423.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. 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 previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently 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.