Retirement Planning Group LLC Purchases 1,416 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,291 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.8% of Retirement Planning Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $28,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Vima LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $676.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $765.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $821.62.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $15.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $854.93. 1,710,588 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,297,663. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $844.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $776.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $530.56 and a 52-week high of $896.67. The company has a market cap of $379.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.43 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.