511 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Purchased by Diversified LLC

Diversified LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 511 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avalon Capital Management acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,291,000. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the second quarter. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,918,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 828 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 3,535 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,005,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded up $1.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $879.21. 1,304,286 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,967,249. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $530.56 and a fifty-two week high of $896.67. The company has a market capitalization of $389.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.47, a PEG ratio of 5.84 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $851.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $787.99.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,970 shares of company stock worth $4,249,526 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $815.00 to $873.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $824.50.

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.