Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Cooper Haims Advisors LLC

Cooper Haims Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 295 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after acquiring an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in 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 period. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 15,055.5% in the 2nd quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 320,994 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $317,722,000 after purchasing an additional 318,876 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price target for the company. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,025.07.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This 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 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $899.01 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. 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 $398.42 billion, a PE ratio of 49.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $927.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $963.13.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

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.