Klingman & Associates LLC Acquires 29 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Klingman & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,121 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $22,261,000. Blue Fin Capital Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Fin Capital Inc. now owns 12,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,417,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Trademark Financial Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $729,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,551,000 after purchasing an additional 1,871 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

COST opened at $892.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $854.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $794.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $539.31 and a twelve month high of $918.93. The stock 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.