Fortune 45 LLC Has $1.72 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Fortune 45 LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,738 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.0% of Fortune 45 LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Fortune 45 LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,877,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.1% in the first quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 724 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $64,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $912.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $404.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.11, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $941.47 and a 200 day moving average of $971.27. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

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.