Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Cahill Financial Advisors Inc.

Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,034 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the period. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $20,056,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COST. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Ten research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $964.01 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $582.83 and a one year high of $976.30. The firm has a market cap of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $901.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $865.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

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.