Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 52.1%, owning 1,144 shares valued at approximately $1.13 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Numerous institutional investors have made significant changes to their holdings in Costco, with hedge funds now owning 68.48% of the company's stock.
• Costco declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $5.20 and a dividend yield of 0.5%.

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 52.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,144 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,056.67.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $960.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $959.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $973.69. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $425.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.46, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,147 shares of company stock valued at $5,031,130 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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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