Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Good Life Advisors LLC

Good Life Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,519 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,124,263,000 after buying an additional 150,844 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $914.00 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $936.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $967.41. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $871.71 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 company has a market capitalization of $405.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.