King Luther Capital Management Corp Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,762 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,093 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $46,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $320,036,000 after purchasing an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $922.74 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $938.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $968.70. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $871.71 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $408.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. 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 28.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was 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 $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.