218 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Acquired by Freedom Financial Partners LLC

Freedom Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 218 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stanich Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after acquiring an additional 252,118 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,522,000. Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,494,000. Finally, RW Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. RW Investment Management LLC now owns 5,624 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,153,000 after buying an additional 989 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $1,055.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $468.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $988.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $977.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,035.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, CEO Roland Michael Vachris sold 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $931.00, for a total value of $3,351,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 41,077 shares in the company, valued at $38,242,687. This trade represents a 8.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,445,926.72. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,600 shares of company stock worth $9,140,195. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.