Park Avenue Securities LLC Invests $27.73 Million in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired 28,014 shares of Costco Wholesale valued at approximately $27.7 million during the 2nd quarter.
• Costco's EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares at an average price of $974.96, representing a 40.92% decrease in their position.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 28,014 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $27,732,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,056.67.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded down $7.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $943.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,781,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,204,146. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $957.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.32. The firm has a market cap of $418.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.