Ritholtz Wealth Management Buys 446 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,457 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $3,628,694,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after acquiring an additional 552,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after purchasing an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $925.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $5.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $892.38. 1,933,485 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,775,800. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $854.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $794.58. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $539.31 and a twelve month high of $918.93. The firm has a market cap of $395.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29, a PEG ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $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 anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors 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 yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.