Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Purchased by Johnson Financial Group Inc.

Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,196 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 606 shares during the quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,164,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $4,016,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 518 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSA Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $255,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,025.07.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $908.26 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $924.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $960.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.52 billion, a PE ratio of 49.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $871.71 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.