Ethos Financial Group LLC Purchases 905 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 57.7% in the 1st quarter, owning 2,473 shares worth $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares.
• Costco reported a Q2 EPS of $4.28, topping estimates and achieving revenue of $63.21 billion, which was an 8.0% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 0.5% and a dividend payout ratio of 29.50%.

Ethos Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 57.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,473 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Bosun Asset Management LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Corps Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,163,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the retailer's stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $980.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,671,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,140,134. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $971.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $986.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $434.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale 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.