Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Belmont Capital LLC

Belmont Capital LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 438.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,076 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Belmont Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Bosun Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Corps Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the first quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,050.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,147 shares of company stock worth $10,067,740. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $938.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $416.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.25, a PEG ratio of 5.29 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $963.94 and a 200 day moving average of $979.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

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.