Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $207,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 243 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,628,694,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $374,688,000 after purchasing an additional 552,492 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $780.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $970.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $844.52.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 4,974 shares of company stock worth $4,252,856. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $916.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $861.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $805.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a market capitalization of $406.09 billion, a PE ratio of 56.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

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.