Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 54,433 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5,092.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,502 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 54,433 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.6% of Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $47,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,705,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy 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 $881.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $885.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $870.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $816.70. The firm has a market cap of $392.62 billion, a PE ratio of 54.87, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $540.23 and a 1-year high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 over the last 90 days. 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.