Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Francis Financial Inc.

Francis Financial Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 130.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 504 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the quarter. Francis Financial Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 5,903 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares during the period. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of COST stock opened at $914.00 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $871.71 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $936.35 and its 200-day moving average is $967.41. The stock has a market cap of $405.07 billion, a PE ratio of 50.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $86.16 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.