Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Holdings Boosted by Stiles Financial Services Inc

Stiles Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,543 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.9% of Stiles Financial Services Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after purchasing an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $930.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.07, a PEG ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98. 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 Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $952.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,066.23.

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.