Reston Wealth Management LLC Acquires 86 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Reston Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 31.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 359 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ COST opened at $923.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $409.31 billion, a PE ratio of 50.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $938.53 and a 200-day moving average of $969.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.