Fortis Capital Advisors LLC Buys 39 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Fortis Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,361 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $915.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $405.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $953.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.15.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

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.