Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Lowered by Garrison Point Advisors LLC

Garrison Point Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,263 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.3% of Garrison Point Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Garrison Point Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $650,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.2% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,388 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,115,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 348.4% in the third quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,327,000 after buying an additional 2,916 shares in the last quarter. Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 1,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,715,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $891.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $394.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $891.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $837.33. 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 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $894.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. 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 link. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.