Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,146 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 147,961 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $139,936,000 after purchasing an additional 10,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.2% in the first quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $946.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $419.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.98, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $951.71 and a 200 day moving average of $971.87.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.04.

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.