ASB Consultores LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ASB Consultores LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 24.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 260 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. James J. Burns & Company LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 34.5% during the third quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 745 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $661,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,109 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Arlington Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,326 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 2,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,773,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $890.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $891.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $848.34. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $560.13 and a 52-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 market capitalization of $394.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.