Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Everett Harris & Co. CA

Everett Harris & Co. CA decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 855,370 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,587 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 9.4% of Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Everett Harris & Co. CA owned about 0.19% of Costco Wholesale worth $758,303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $889.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $394.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.12, a PEG 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $889.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $833.05. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten 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, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $890.07.

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.