Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 16.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 522 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 74 shares during the quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $936.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $414.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.41, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $948.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 currently 28.56%.

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.