Norris Perne & French LLP MI Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Norris Perne & French LLP MI reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,345 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.6 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $874.18 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $549.06 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $892.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $842.92. The company has a market capitalization of $387.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Truist Financial lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.