Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by LifeSteps Financial Inc.

LifeSteps Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,548 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.1% of LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. LifeSteps Financial Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,160,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 505 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 48,086 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $45,479,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,067.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $914.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $405.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $952.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $971.37. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. 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 earned $5.15 EPS. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were 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 was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.