Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Boltwood Capital Management

Boltwood Capital Management raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 899 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the quarter. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after buying an additional 81,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

COST stock opened at $878.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $389.48 billion, a PE ratio of 54.43, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $872.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $819.85.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $883.04.

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.