First Long Island Investors LLC Buys New Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Long Island Investors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 862 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 230.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of COST stock traded down $10.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $913.63. 650,479 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,922,292. The company has a market capitalization of $404.80 billion, a PE ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $572.24 and a 52 week high of $962.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $897.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $856.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.