Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Has $2.39 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 94.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,409 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,099 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,877,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $395,000. Finally, Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $343,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. BTIG Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price for the company. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their target price on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.9%

COST opened at $911.45 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $403.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.05, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $939.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $970.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, 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 through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.