Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 69.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270,461 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 110,445 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.0% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Costco Wholesale worth $267,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was 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 owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $922.74 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $938.12 and its 200-day moving average is $968.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $408.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.