Stonegate Investment Group LLC Sells 7,982 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,609 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 7,982 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.8% of Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $68,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. M3 Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the third quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.7% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after buying an additional 1,933 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 397.5% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,209 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $889.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $394.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $889.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $832.21. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $890.07.

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.