Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group LLC has increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 10% during the 2nd quarter, owning 12,528 shares valued at approximately $12.4 million.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Costco's stock, with Argus raising its target from $1,170 to $1,200 and Goldman Sachs increasing it from $1,333 to $1,418, all promoting the stock as a "buy".
• Costco recently reported quarterly earnings of $5.87 per share, exceeding estimates and showing an 8.1% revenue growth year-over-year, alongside announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,528 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 16.5% during the first quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC now owns 804 shares of the retailer's stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Embree Financial Group grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 23.3% in the first quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 1,057 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $944.68 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.88, a PEG ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $946.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.28.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.

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