FCG Investment Co Purchases 434 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• FCG Investment Co raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.7%, adding 434 shares to reach a total of 3,597 shares, which are now valued at approximately $3.4 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 68.48% of Costco's stock, with notable transactions including GAMMA Investing's increase of holdings by 106,402.1%.
• Costco's latest earnings report revealed an EPS of $4.28, exceeding estimates and marking an 8% year-over-year revenue increase to $63.21 billion.

FCG Investment Co increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,597 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 2.1% of FCG Investment Co's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. FCG Investment Co's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $972.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $972.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $986.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.14, a P/E/G ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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