Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Echo45 Advisors LLC

Echo45 Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 686 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.4% of Echo45 Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Echo45 Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,424,000. Finally, WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 328.4% in the 3rd quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $879.09 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $549.06 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The company has a market capitalization of $389.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $892.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $842.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $894.57.

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.