RNC Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,170 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $3,095,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,325,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $944.68 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $946.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.28. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $418.66 billion, a PE ratio of 51.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

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.