Valmark Advisers Inc. Buys 60 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,618 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $914.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $405.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $952.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

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.