Trademark Financial Management LLC Takes $729,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Trademark Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 858 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $729,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,016.9% in the 4th quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 56,516 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $37,305,000 after acquiring an additional 51,456 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $267,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after acquiring an additional 85,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $824.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $892.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $395.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.29, a PEG ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $854.20 and its 200 day moving average is $794.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $539.31 and a 52-week high of $918.93.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.