Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Sage Advisors LLC

Sage Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,100 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 141 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Sage Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Sage Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Vima LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $878.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $389.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.43, a PEG ratio of 5.38 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. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $872.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $819.85. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.30%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.