Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Lansing Street Advisors

Key Points

• Lansing Street Advisors increased its stake in Costco by 116.4% in Q2, now owning 1,186 shares valued at approximately $1.17 million.
• Costco reported an EPS of $5.87 for the quarter, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $86.16 billion, reflecting an 8.1% year-over-year increase.
• Recent analyst reports have led to revised price targets for COST, with Goldman Sachs raising it to $1,418 and Citigroup lowering it to $990.

Lansing Street Advisors raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 116.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,186 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the quarter. Lansing Street Advisors' holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 130 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,160,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the period. Curated Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 505 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 48,086 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $45,479,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $914.80 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $405.69 billion, a PE ratio of 50.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $952.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $971.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,067.19.

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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