Kathmere Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 6.3% in Q2, owning 4,668 shares valued at approximately $4.62 million.
• Costco recently reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and reflecting an 8.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $86.16 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, contributing to an annualized dividend yield of 0.6% and a payout ratio of 28.56%.

Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 6.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,668 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 275 shares during the quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of COST stock opened at $915.95 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $955.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $970.76. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.20 billion, a PE ratio of 50.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.97. 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 (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.10% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,069.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% 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 link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the executive vice president 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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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