Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Whelan Financial

Whelan Financial grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 579 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.2% of Whelan Financial’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Whelan Financial’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 888.9% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $640.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total value of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,442 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.48, for a total transaction of $1,043,258.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,967,534.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $10,736,778 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $732.63. 1,711,632 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,158,359. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $476.75 and a 1 year high of $787.08. The firm has a market cap of $324.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $724.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $642.61.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.68%.

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.