Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Purchases 373 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Costco by 17.4% in Q1, now owning a total of 2,516 shares, valued at approximately $2,380,000.
• Institutional investors now own 68.48% of Costco's stock, with significant increases from firms like Vanguard Group and GAMMA Investing LLC.
• Costco's most recent earnings report showed a quarterly revenue of $63.21 billion, surpassing estimates and reporting an EPS of $4.28, up from $3.78 the previous year.

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 17.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,516 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 373 shares during the quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bosun Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Corps Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 441 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut 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. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $11.9760 on Friday, reaching $957.7040. 1,501,435 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,202,499. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $424.72 billion, a PE ratio of 54.29, a PEG ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $970.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $985.89. 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.78 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

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.