B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Makes New $10.01 Million Investment in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 10,110 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $10,008,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 635.7% in the 2nd quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC now owns 2,553 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 2,206 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $884.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $916.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $950.64. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.12 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.67 billion, a PE ratio of 47.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 30.16%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,125.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $998.70.

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.