Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Purchases 123 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,134 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.4% of Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 47.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,507 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,232,000 after purchasing an additional 2,757 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth $219,000. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 38,814 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,436,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $913.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.16, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $891.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $848.69. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $562.01 and a 52-week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510 over the last 90 days. Company 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.