Financial Connections Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 975.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $42,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invictus Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the second quarter. Invictus Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,492 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,964,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the second quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 6,520 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,454,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,800 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,711,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. SLT Holdings LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 30.0% during the second quarter. SLT Holdings LLC now owns 676 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the second quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,575 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,550,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COST shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup reduced 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $930.01 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $952.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $971.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 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.