Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Cornerstone Advisors LLC

Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,700 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.0% of Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $29,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 33,495 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $33,157,000 after buying an additional 6,369 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 131.3% in the second quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 4,403 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,359,000 after acquiring an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 44,034 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,591,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.0% during the second quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 2,128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 196,685 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $194,706,000 after purchasing an additional 18,775 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $409.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $934.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $966.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on COST. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.