Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Has $682,000 Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 802 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 30.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $881.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $885.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $392.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $870.67 and its 200-day moving average is $817.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.