Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Buys 1,480 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,144 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,692,035,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,364,888,000 after buying an additional 1,377,328 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after acquiring an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,291,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,248,384,000 after acquiring an additional 383,887 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $998.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of COST stock opened at $884.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $392.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $916.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $950.64. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.12 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 30.16%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.04 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale 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.