Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1,662.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,271 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,213 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.2% of Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $32,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the third quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,620 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,209,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 477 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 791 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 23,959 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $21,240,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 3.3 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $958.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $424.57 billion, a PE ratio of 57.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $582.83 and a 1-year high of $962.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $900.22 and a 200-day moving average of $863.38. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Barclays lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

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.