Ramirez Asset Management Inc. Acquires 25 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,160,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 41.1% during the 1st quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 618 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 600 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $567,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% 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 valued at $7,588,685 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $942.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $418.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business’s 50-day moving average is $952.50 and its 200-day moving average is $971.48. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid 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 payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.