Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Boosted by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 551,986 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,087 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.5% of Blair William & Co. IL’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $546,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during 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 during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after buying an additional 125,441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $942.89 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $952.50 and a 200-day moving average of $971.48. The company has a market capitalization of $418.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.78, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.34 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,066.23.

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.