FWG Holdings LLC Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

FWG Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 408 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 39 shares during the quarter. FWG Holdings LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $363,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. First City Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 25.2% in the 3rd quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 963 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $854,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the third quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC now owns 3,579 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,173,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,499 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,357,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $919.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $898.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $860.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $407.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.49, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $577.34 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

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.