Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Signature Wealth Management Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 207 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 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. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup cut 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 report on Monday, September 29th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,067.19.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $915.38 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. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The stock 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’s 50 day moving average price is $953.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.61.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 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.