Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Valmark Advisers Inc.

Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,618 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in 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. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $914.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $405.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $952.43 and its 200-day moving average is $971.37.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for 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%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

About Costco Wholesale

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.