Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 6,369 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 23.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,495 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,369 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $33,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $871.71 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $934.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $966.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.