Morling Financial Advisors LLC Invests $359,000 in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Morling Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 380 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arlington Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,445 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,367,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 3,625 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,428,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the retailer's stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 103.9% in the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 6,855 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,484,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $7.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $933.80. 2,053,439 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,979,621. The company has a 50 day moving average of $993.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $983.35. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $414.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on COST. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% 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 Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.