Fragasso Group Inc. Has $515,000 Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 703 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Fragasso Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Richelieu Gestion SA bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $890.00 to $940.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $777.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $752.96.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.6 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $848.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $788.13 and a 200-day moving average of $730.83. The company has a market cap of $376.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.79. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $519.34 and a one year high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

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.