Focus Partners Wealth Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259,602 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,477 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $245,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $979.25 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $961.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $976.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.28 billion, a PE ratio of 55.54, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,147 shares of company stock valued at $5,031,130 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,056.67.

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.