Investment Partners LTD. Has $1.71 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Investment Partners LTD. cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,009 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 14 shares during the quarter. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $970.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.52.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $900.40 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $859.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $803.66. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $918.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $399.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is 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.