Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Purchased by Main Street Research LLC

Main Street Research LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,849 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 3.9% of Main Street Research LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $62,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in 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 stake in 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 stake in 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. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. BTIG Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price for the company. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,064.85.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $940.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $416.92 billion, a PE ratio of 51.66, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $871.71 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $939.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $969.58.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.