Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Purchases Shares of 238 Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 238 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 55 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $953.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $423.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.11, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,000.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $982.43. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $793.00 and a 1 year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

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.