Westfuller Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Westfuller Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 77% during the 2nd quarter, now owning 724 shares valued at approximately $717,000.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $5.20 and a yield of 0.5%.
• Research firms have raised their price targets for Costco, with JPMorgan Chase increasing its target to $1,160, reflecting positive analyst sentiment for the stock.

Westfuller Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 77.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 724 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer's stock worth $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of COST stock opened at $951.16 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.16 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $957.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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