Rational Advisors Inc. Purchases 448 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Rational Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,117 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Rational Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth approximately $485,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total transaction of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,496,950. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI lowered 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $970.33. 1,939,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,068,105. The stock has a market capitalization of $430.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.04, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,003.77 and a 200 day moving average of $981.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. 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.