Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. Has $1.13 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,275 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COST. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $6,424,000. Finally, WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 328.4% during the third quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of COST traded up $3.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $880.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 125,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,914,429. The stock has a market cap of $390.11 billion, a PE ratio of 52.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $560.13 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $892.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $845.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

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.