GFG Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 97 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,628 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,160,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the period. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 41.1% during the first quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 618 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.7% during the first quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 600 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. Argus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,066.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $942.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $952.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $971.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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