Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 797 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 80.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,782 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 797 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.1% of Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,764,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $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 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $929.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.09 billion, a PE ratio of 51.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $944.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $971.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

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.