Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 583 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $923.58 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $871.71 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $409.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $938.53 and a 200-day moving average of $969.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were 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 represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.