Drive Wealth Management LLC Has $1.13 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,271 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,298 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,347,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 120.4% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 4,106 shares during the period. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 500.0% during the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,958,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $907.07 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $401.90 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $897.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $859.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $572.24 and a twelve month high of $962.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett raised Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

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.