Libra Wealth LLC Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Libra Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 410 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Libra Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,066.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $930.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $952.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $972.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.07, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23.

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 analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 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.