Brighton Jones LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,604 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,630,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after acquiring an additional 132,292 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,049,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price target (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $799.33.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1 %

COST stock traded down $1.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $838.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,938,636 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,994,377. The company has a market capitalization of $371.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.09, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $836.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $758.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $530.56 and a 1 year high of $896.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 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, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

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.