Planned Solutions Inc. Invests $407,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 616 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $407,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Bank boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.6% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $220,948,000 after acquiring an additional 96,566 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 87.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 216,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $148,306,297.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $662.30, for a total transaction of $927,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,922 shares in the company, valued at $9,220,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock worth $10,736,778. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $585.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $665.00 to $749.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Northcoast Research downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $620.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $612.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $750.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $668.50.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $732.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $723.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $641.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.88, a PEG ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.77.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $59.11 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.80% and a net margin of 2.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.68%.

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.