BlueSpruce Investments LP Invests $567,000 in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 573 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $567,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Luminist Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% during the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its position in 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. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Hobbs Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Hobbs Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $884.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $392.67 billion, a PE ratio of 47.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.12 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $916.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $951.10.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.16% and a net margin of 2.96%.The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.04 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,125.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,033.00 to $926.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Gordon Haskett dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $998.70.

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.