Portside Wealth Group LLC Buys 65 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,221 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 4th 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. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,657,994 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,754,489,000 after acquiring an additional 77,345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8 %

COST traded down $6.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $870.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,516,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,987,382. The company has a market capitalization of $385.96 billion, a PE ratio of 53.94, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $530.56 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $848.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $781.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

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.