WJ Wealth Management LLC Invests $335,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

WJ Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 622 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,501,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the first quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 172,597 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $85,758,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the second quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 626 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 105,822 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $52,580,000 after acquiring an additional 8,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 378 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on COST. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $575.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $545.00 to $570.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $595.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $566.63.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $6.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $562.62. 274,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,788,443. The stock has a market cap of $249.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $447.90 and a fifty-two week high of $571.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $551.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $519.89.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th were given a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 24th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 30.22%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 1,565 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.00, for a total value of $834,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,329 shares in the company, valued at $7,104,357. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.22% 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, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Australia, Spain, France, Iceland, China, and Taiwan. It offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.