Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC Sells 3,902 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC lessened its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 16.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,936 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,902 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.6% of Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $17,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Holistic Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,403,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 107,216 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $95,001,000 after purchasing an additional 6,559 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Family Wealth Counselors L.L.C. now owns 578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 1,281 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of COST opened at $943.80 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $893.49 and a 200 day moving average of $850.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $562.01 and a 1-year high of $962.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.96, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for 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%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS 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 given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.