Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,376 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $651,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $210,000. Meyer Handelman Co. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 328.3% during the first quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 1,713 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 37,398 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $27,398,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.9% in the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 815 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $597,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on COST shares. 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. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $889.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $889.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $832.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.69, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973 over the last three months. Corporate 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.