Gouws Capital LLC Boosts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Gouws Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,182 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 8.0% of Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Interchange Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 159.7% during the 2nd quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 987 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $838,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.2% during the second quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 31,700 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,337,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.9% during the second quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,897 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,819 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,496,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dover Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $950.00 to $925.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $875.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $824.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

COST stock traded up $5.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $892.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,933,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,775,800. The stock has a market capitalization 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 has a fifty day moving average of $854.20 and a 200 day moving average of $794.58. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $539.31 and a 1-year high of $918.93. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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