VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys New Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 46,807 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $46,336,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $320,036,000 after buying an additional 310,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $936.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $949.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.53. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $414.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.42, a PEG ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

About Costco Wholesale

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.