Whalen Wealth Management Inc. Purchases 22 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 818 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,130.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen 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.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $924.16 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $409.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $943.11 and its 200-day moving average is $971.63. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year 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 company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.