Cannon Advisors Inc. Buys New Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Cannon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 613 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $934.93 and its 200-day moving average is $966.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $871.71 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.