Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC has increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 18.8%, owning 72,460 shares valued at approximately $71.76 million.
• In September, Costco's EVP Russell D. Miller sold nearly 3,400 shares at an average price of $915.00, representing a significant ownership decrease.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $5.87, exceeding expectations, along with 8.1% year-over-year revenue growth.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 18.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,460 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 11,489 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $71,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $930.01 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.07, a PEG ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $952.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $972.00. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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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