Kera Capital Partners Inc. Raises Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Kera Capital Partners Inc. significantly increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 404.3% during the second quarter, holding shares now worth approximately $1.16 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 68.48% of Costco's stock, with notable increases from Vanguard Group and GAMMA Investing LLC in recent months.
• Costco recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.5% and a payout ratio of 29.50%.

Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 404.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,175 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during 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 raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during 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. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during 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. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during 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 bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,147 shares of company stock valued at $5,031,130. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,056.67.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of COST opened at $967.90 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $960.40 and its 200 day moving average is $975.04. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $429.24 billion, a PE ratio of 54.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.

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