Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Boosted by RWA Wealth Partners LLC

RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,766 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 224 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 0.6% of RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $48,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after buying an additional 125,441 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $922.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.67, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $938.12 and a 200-day moving average of $968.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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 firm 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%.Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.