Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Financial Partners Group Inc

Financial Partners Group Inc boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $6.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $892.74. 385,374 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,914,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $892.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $847.07. The stock has a market cap of $395.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $560.13 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

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.