Shum Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,714 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Shum Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,714 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,526,000. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.3% of Shum Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $20,056,000. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of COST traded down $3.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $960.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,240,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,934,416. The firm has a market cap of $425.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $582.83 and a 52-week high of $976.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $902.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $867.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.