Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by West Bancorporation Inc.

West Bancorporation Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,445 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.9% of West Bancorporation Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. West Bancorporation Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Trilogy Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 4,431 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 146.7% during the first quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,632 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,661,000 after acquiring an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,797,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $891.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $891.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $840.23. The firm has a market cap of $395.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.22, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for 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%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.