Objective Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Objective Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 347 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth about $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other 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 transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $29.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $943.80. The stock had a trading volume of 3,277,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,929,356. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $562.01 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $418.17 billion, a PE ratio of 56.96, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $893.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $850.73.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

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.