Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Clarendon Private LLC

Clarendon Private LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 860 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 28 shares during the quarter. Clarendon Private LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after purchasing an additional 310,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4%

COST opened at $930.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.16 billion, a PE ratio of 51.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $952.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $972.00. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company 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 prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,066.23.

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.