Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stake Boosted by Morton Capital Management LLC CA

Morton Capital Management LLC CA grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,397 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,160,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Curated Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 505 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 48,086 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $45,479,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $914.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $952.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $971.37. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $405.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

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.