Valley National Advisers Inc. Purchases 23 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,558 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ COST opened at $915.38 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $953.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $972.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.27, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of 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. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

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.