Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST is HWG Holdings LP's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• HWG Holdings LP increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 5.9% in Q2, owning a total of 12,309 shares worth approximately $12.2 million.
• Recent large investment activities include GAMMA Investing LLC's massive stake increase of over 106,402%, bringing their total shares to 8.16 million valued at nearly $7.7 billion.
• Research firms have varying price targets for Costco, with JPMorgan Chase raising it to $1,160, while Evercore ISI lowered it to $1,060, reflecting a diverse outlook among analysts.

HWG Holdings LP grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 5.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,309 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 685 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 3.6% of HWG Holdings LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. HWG Holdings LP's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,095,000. Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer's stock worth $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $241,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $1.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $951.16. The stock had a trading volume of 4,601,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,916,574. The stock has a market cap of $421.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.95, a P/E/G 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. The firm's fifty day moving average is $957.97 and its 200 day moving average is $971.70. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 7th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,056.67.

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.