PDS Planning Inc Acquires 793 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,675 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $768,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $320,036,000 after buying an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of COST opened at $930.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $412.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.07, a PEG ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business's fifty day moving average price is $952.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $971.48. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is 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.

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