Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,376 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $889.56 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $394.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.69, a PEG ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $889.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $832.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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 net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COST shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.