W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Sells 1,133 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,948 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,133 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.2% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $919.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $898.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $860.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $577.34 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The company has a market capitalization of $407.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.49, a PEG ratio of 5.60 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 EPS 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 company 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 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.00%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.