Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by OneAscent Wealth Management LLC

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 708 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 230.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $5.85 during trading on Monday, reaching $912.92. The company had a trading volume of 151,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,061. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $577.34 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $404.49 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $897.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $859.62. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

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.