First Heartland Consultants Inc. Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Heartland Consultants Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,094 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the quarter. First Heartland Consultants Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,168,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 45,777 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,582,000 after buying an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 39.9% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,763,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock traded up $4.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $937.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 299,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,923,234. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $572.24 and a 12 month high of $962.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $894.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $854.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $415.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,136 shares of company stock worth $10,806,570. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.