Atwater Malick LLC Makes New $205,000 Investment in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Atwater Malick LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 207 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on 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. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

COST stock opened at $915.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $953.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.15. The stock has a market cap of $405.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its 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 net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. 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.