Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,635 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $932.14 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $945.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $972.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 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. 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 released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen equities research 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.