Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Invests $212,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 249 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.8% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after buying an additional 656 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.8% during the second quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,705,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $877.38 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $388.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.36, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $871.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $819.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 16.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

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.