Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 48.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 208,040 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 67,665 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $205,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Luminist Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,023.41.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $894.68 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $919.68 and a 200-day moving average of $954.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $397.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.13, a PEG ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 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.