Libra Wealth LLC Takes $210,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Libra Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 390 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315,174 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,385 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,069,186,000 after purchasing an additional 111,505 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,851,678 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,150,426,000 after buying an additional 256,155 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $2,328,844,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total transaction of $2,509,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,015,333.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total transaction of $2,509,875.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,015,333.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.76, for a total value of $1,384,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 67,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,619,131.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,797,118 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $619.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $651.00 to $652.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $575.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $630.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $586.43.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $579.24 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $256.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.76, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $564.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $543.03. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $447.90 and a 1 year high of $599.89.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.10% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business had revenue of $78.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.81%.

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.