Novare Capital Management LLC Buys 324 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Novare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco by 13.2%, acquiring an additional 324 shares, bringing its total holdings to 2,786 shares valued at approximately $2.76 million.
• Costco reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased by 8.1% year-over-year to $86.16 billion.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with a yield of 0.6%, to be paid on November 14th for shareholders on record by October 31st.

Novare Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,786 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 376,485 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $372,698,000 after buying an additional 22,906 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.3% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,446,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the second quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,211 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the second quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,848 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,779,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curbstone Financial Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.9% in the second quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 772 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of COST stock opened at $936.33 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $949.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.49. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. BTIG Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $1,115.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,068.15.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.