Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 763 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after buying an additional 552,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Citigroup increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $892.38 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $539.31 and a one year high of $918.93. The firm has a market cap of $395.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29, a PEG ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $854.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $795.09.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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.