Silvant Capital Management LLC Sells 1,006 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Silvant Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,821 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,006 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.6% of Silvant Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Silvant Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 230.0% during the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $877.31 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $552.01 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $892.20 and a 200 day moving average of $844.03. The firm has a market cap of $388.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.95, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS 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 issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio 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.