Ballast Advisors LLC Buys 50 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Ballast Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,347 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.7% of Ballast Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after purchasing an additional 310,197 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $932.14 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $945.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $972.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be 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 is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, 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, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale 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.