Raymond James Trust N.A. Acquires 901 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,959 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 901 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $21,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 3.3 %

COST stock opened at $958.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 52 week low of $582.83 and a 52 week high of $962.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $900.22 and a 200 day moving average of $863.38.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, 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 sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.