Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by QTR Family Wealth LLC

QTR Family Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 46.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 773 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the quarter. QTR Family Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ COST opened at $917.34 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $954.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $971.03. The firm has a market cap of $406.82 billion, a PE ratio of 50.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s 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.