Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Purchased by M1 Capital Management LLC

M1 Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 544 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the quarter. M1 Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.9% during the second quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 165,924 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $164,255,000 after purchasing an additional 9,213 shares during the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,465 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,804 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,705,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter. WMG Financial Advisors LLC now owns 644 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc now owns 8,543 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,470,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.4%

COST stock opened at $930.01 on Friday. 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 $412.16 billion, a PE ratio of 51.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $952.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $971.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS 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 business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of 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. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,066.23.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.