Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC

Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 673 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the quarter. Warren Street Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $61,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9%

COST stock opened at $917.34 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $406.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $954.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $971.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on COST. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.