Zhang Financial LLC Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,356 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the quarter. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COST. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of 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 reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 target price (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $886.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,824 shares of company stock valued at $4,260,493. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $5.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $894.84. 722,376 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,947,640. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $884.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $829.12. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $540.23 and a 1-year high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $396.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.