WealthTrust Asset Management LLC Has $1.26 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

WealthTrust Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,724 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 14 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.0% of WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at $3,628,694,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 61,693.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,105,124 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,049,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100,099 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $510,353,000. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3,647.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 567,641 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $374,688,000 after purchasing an additional 552,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after buying an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to an “accumulate” rating and set a $775.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 target price (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $766.73.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.3 %

COST stock traded down $2.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $884.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,638,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,953,134. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $822.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $750.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $526.15 and a twelve month high of $896.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $392.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.68, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

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.