Abel Hall LLC Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Abel Hall LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the quarter. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 354.3% in the first quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,605,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $3,093,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of COST stock opened at $914.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $405.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.24, a PEG ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $952.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.76. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. 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 research note on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research note on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.