Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 862 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,887 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after buying an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,539,245 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,336,198,000 after purchasing an additional 132,292 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,794,480 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,844,581,000 after buying an additional 85,398 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded up $3.30 on Wednesday, reaching $862.66. 811,549 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,958,359. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $382.44 billion, a PE ratio of 53.05, a PEG ratio of 5.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $807.29 and a 200 day moving average of $743.56. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $524.63 and a 52 week high of $873.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 25th. This is an increase from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $860.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Gordon Haskett cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $758.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.