Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Position Boosted by Canopy Partners LLC

Canopy Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,396 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.9% of Canopy Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after buying an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of COST stock opened at $914.80 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $405.70 billion, a PE ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $952.69 and a 200-day moving average of $971.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 over the last three months. 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.