BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC Takes $257,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 260 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% 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 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 in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $915.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $953.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.