J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,608 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 23.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,922 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,608 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after acquiring an additional 36,384 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,501 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,789,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $4.75 on Tuesday, reaching $942.81. 1,168,452 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,213,994. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $418.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $998.91 and a 200-day moving average of $983.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% 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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,037.48.

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.