Arrow Financial Corp Cuts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Arrow Financial Corp cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,199 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Arrow Financial Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after acquiring an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 3.3 %

COST stock opened at $943.80 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $562.01 and a 12 month high of $962.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $418.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $893.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $850.73.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 28.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $905.30.

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.