Abel Hall LLC Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 446 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 354.3% in the first quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 17.2% in the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,605,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $3,093,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $914.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $405.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $952.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.76. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

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.