Opulen Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 383 Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired 383 shares of Costco Wholesale, valued at approximately $379,000, in the second quarter, signaling potential confidence in the retailer's performance.
• Several analysts have revised their price targets for Costco Wholesale, with Daiwa Capital Markets lowering its target from $1,005 to $947 while Argus raised it from $1,170 to $1,200, indicating mixed sentiments in the market.
• Recent insider transactions revealed that executives Russell D. Miller and Teresa A. Jones sold significant portions of their holdings, raising concerns about insider confidence amid a total of 7,981 shares being sold in the last 90 days.

Opulen Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 383 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corps Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Farrell Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Farrell Financial LLC now owns 522 shares of the retailer's stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,035 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,925,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,638 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's 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 owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Argus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $914.80 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $952.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.37. The company has a market cap of $405.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.

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