Wealth Watch Advisors INC Has $999,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Wealth Watch Advisors INC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 87.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,009 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the quarter. Wealth Watch Advisors INC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.5% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 135,038 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $133,680,000 after purchasing an additional 11,768 shares during the period. Oak Grove Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 65.3% during the second quarter. Oak Grove Capital LLC now owns 21,698 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,480,000 after purchasing an additional 8,568 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 884,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $875,658,000 after purchasing an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the second quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,849 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,770,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Brookwood Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.1% during the second quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC now owns 3,680 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,643,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on COST. BTIG Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price target on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1%

COST stock opened at $932.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $945.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $972.16. The company has a market cap of $413.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.