PFG Investments LLC Has $17.35 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,339 shares of the retailer's stock after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.1% of PFG Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. PFG Investments LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $17,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Rockline Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,098 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,605,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Cottage Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Cottage Street Advisors LLC now owns 353 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 719 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,766,000. Finally, Proathlete Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $121,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $5.39 on Friday, hitting $980.29. 3,250,821 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,063,545. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $434.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1,002.94 and a 200-day moving average of $981.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

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

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business'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 now owns 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,547 shares of company stock valued at $11,361,265 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.