Paladin Wealth LLC Invests $619,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Paladin Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 698 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Thomasville National Bank boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Affiance Financial LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.0% in the third quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 651 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 14.2% in the third quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,004 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 11.1% during the third quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,824 shares of company stock worth $4,260,493. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $890.46 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $882.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $828.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. 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 capitalization of $394.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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 company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $886.74.

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.