Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,937 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 366 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.7% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $32,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 89.7% during the first quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 550 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVZ Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the first quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $936.11 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.34 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $414.86 billion, a PE ratio of 51.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $948.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned 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 $1,068.15.

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.