Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 132.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,893 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 18,179 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $31,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Mizuho dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents 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 available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $923.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $938.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $969.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $871.71 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.72, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 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.