Defined Financial Planning LLC Purchases 92 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Defined Financial Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 31.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 388 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Defined Financial Planning LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,394,465,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,861 shares during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total transaction of $830,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. This represents a 11.41% 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 James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $10,825,205 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $996.78 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $996.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $980.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.43 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 company has a market capitalization of $442.05 billion, a PE ratio of 58.53, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 32.31% and a net margin of 2.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,035.32.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.