Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 81,131 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,809 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.1% of Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $71,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during 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 lifted its position in 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 worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the period. Nwam LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $20,056,000. 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 purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $961.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $426.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.03, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $905.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $869.42. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $582.83 and a 1-year high of $976.30.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.