Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,021 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,325,416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,141,062,000 after buying an additional 90,107 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,124,263,000 after acquiring an additional 150,844 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth $5,692,035,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,218.00 to $1,171.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Argus raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,070.00 to $1,000.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $991.39.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.0%

COST stock opened at $860.39 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $914.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $947.83. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $844.06 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $381.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.08, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business had revenue of $67.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.