Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 718 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco by 31.8%, acquiring an additional 718 shares and bringing their total holding to 2,976 shares worth approximately $2.95 million.
• Costco's quarterly earnings exceeded analyst expectations, reporting $5.87 EPS for the quarter on revenues of $86.16 billion, showing an 8.1% increase year-over-year.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.30 on November 14, with a dividend yield of 0.6% and a payout ratio of 28.56%.

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 31.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,976 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 718 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Corps Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position 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 grew its position 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $936.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $414.96 billion, a PE ratio of 51.42, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $949.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.53.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued 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 is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

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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