Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 132.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,893 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,179 shares during the quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $31,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during 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, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of COST opened at $923.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $409.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $871.71 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $938.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $969.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Argus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

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.