Acropolis Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,787 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 592 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $5,692,035,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,364,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,328 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,291,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,248,384,000 after buying an additional 383,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $947.00 to $917.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,218.00 to $1,171.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $991.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $862.65 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $844.06 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $382.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.21, a PEG ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $913.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $947.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 29.35%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.85%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.