Whelan Financial Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Whelan Financial lifted its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,287 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 0.5% of Whelan Financial’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,274,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Custos Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $230,000. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.5% during the second quarter. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. now owns 392 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the second quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 1,848 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.8% during the second quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 472 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $467,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atwater Malick LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $205,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $915.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $953.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.95 billion, a PE ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

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.