Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Certified Advisory Corp

Certified Advisory Corp boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,995 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 163 shares during the quarter. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 32,074 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $20,056,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $964.01 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $901.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $864.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $582.83 and a one year high of $976.30. The company has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. 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 is 28.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

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.