Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 208,274 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,552 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 3.5% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $184,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after acquiring an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after acquiring an additional 125,444 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,690,138,000 after purchasing an additional 78,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $964.01 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $582.83 and a 12 month high of $976.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $901.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $866.19.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 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 posted $4.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Ten investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale 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.