Manchester Financial Inc. Has $5.41 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Manchester Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.2% in Q2, now holding 5,461 shares valued at approximately $5.41 million.
• Recent price targets for Costco shares have been raised by several analysts, with Goldman Sachs setting a new target of $1,418.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Costco plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.30 on November 14, with a yield of 0.6% based on the current stock price.

Manchester Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,461 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 901 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.1% of Manchester Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Manchester Financial Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Corps Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,638 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viewpoint Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of COST stock opened at $936.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $949.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $971.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.42, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale's 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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