Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Holdings Lifted by Blossom Wealth Management

Blossom Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 763 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.3% of Blossom Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Blossom Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,978 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,958,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.8% in the second quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 134.9% during the second quarter. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Spirepoint Private Client LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 83.0% in the 2nd quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 9,062 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,970,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastover Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 188.0% in the 2nd quarter. Eastover Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,373 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,299,000 after acquiring an additional 4,813 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $915.95 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $955.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $971.07. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during 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 31.10%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,069.58.

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.