VestGen Investment Management Has $878,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

VestGen Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 233.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 887 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. VestGen Investment Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $320,036,000 after acquiring an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a 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 report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1%

COST stock opened at $932.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $945.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $972.11. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for 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%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.