Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Forum Financial Management LP

Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,696 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after buying an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.8%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $944.68 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $946.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $971.28. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $418.66 billion, a PE ratio of 51.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.69 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

Costco Wholesale 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.