Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Aspiriant LLC

Aspiriant LLC decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,982 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trust Point Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,513,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 15.0% during the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. M3 Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 977 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.1% in the third quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 1,161 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 84.7% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 4,215 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after buying an additional 1,933 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $890.07.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $889.56 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $889.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $832.21. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $394.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share 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 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 previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

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.