Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Buys 602 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 112.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,135 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of COST opened at $935.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $938.96 and a 200 day moving average of $969.33. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $414.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,064.85.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. 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.