Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. Sells 16 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 535 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16 shares during the period. Swisher Financial Concepts Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,061.30.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $943.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $418.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $956.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $970.87. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.