Meitav Investment House Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter, amassing 37,525 shares valued at approximately $37.14 million.
• Two executive vice presidents at Costco recently sold shares, with EVP Yoram Rubanenko selling 4,000 shares for about $3.9 million, and EVP Russell D. Miller selling 3,381 shares for approximately $3.1 million.
• Costco reported a quarterly EPS of $5.87, beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.6%.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,525 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 14,645 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $37,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer's stock worth $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer's stock worth $320,036,000 after purchasing an additional 310,197 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $910.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $953.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $972.16. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.34 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $403.98 billion, a PE ratio of 50.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% 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 period last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given 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 was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,067.19.

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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