Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,278 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,018 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $60,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Corps Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,327,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luminist Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ COST opened at $913.86 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $405.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.18, 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $937.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $967.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’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 directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.