Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Guardian Investment Management

Key Points

• Guardian Investment Management increased its stake in Costco by 11.1% in Q2, now owning 5,047 shares worth approximately $4.99 million.
• Costco reported $5.87 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and achieved a revenue of $86.16 billion, marking an 8.1% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30, with an annualized dividend rate of $5.20 and a yield of 0.6%.

Guardian Investment Management grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,047 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 4.9% of Guardian Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Guardian Investment Management's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $915.95 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $955.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $971.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.21 billion, a PE ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued 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 analysts' expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 31.10%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other 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 value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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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