Founders Financial Alliance LLC Grows Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,207 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after buying an additional 552,492 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $886.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $393.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $871.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $818.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.