Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Retirement Planning Group LLC

Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 43.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,915 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 14,588 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.1% of Retirement Planning Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Retirement Planning Group LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $45,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after buying an additional 1,519,861 shares during the period. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $95,452,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $729,476,000 after buying an additional 795,345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,161,193.58. The trade was a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,600 shares of company stock valued at $9,140,195 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $40.88 on Thursday, reaching $1,010.81. 3,286,207 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,055,798. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.35, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $991.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $978.09.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 30.36%.

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.