Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Holdings Increased by Prudent Man Advisors LLC

Prudent Man Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 32.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,801 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Topsail Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.7% in the second quarter. Topsail Wealth Management LLC now owns 384 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. VestGen Investment Management increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 233.5% in the second quarter. VestGen Investment Management now owns 887 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the second quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC now owns 2,347 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,323,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. McCarthy Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 143.9% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Wealth Partners LLC now owns 439 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $932.14 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $945.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $972.11. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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.