Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Purchased by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,017 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,379 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.0% of EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $144,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Curi Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 193.0% in the 2nd quarter. Curi Capital LLC now owns 3,581 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 71,952 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $71,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,889 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at $23,512,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 430.3% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 23,069 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $22,837,000 after purchasing an additional 18,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Financial Freedom LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% during the second quarter. Byrne Financial Freedom LLC now owns 4,858 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,809,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Gordon Haskett decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased 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. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $998.70.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $884.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $916.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $951.10. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.12 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market cap of $392.67 billion, a PE ratio of 47.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 30.16%. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.