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

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,095,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

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 company has a market capitalization of $409.57 billion, a PE ratio of 50.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $943.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $971.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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