Thomas Story & Son LLC Has $17.21 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Thomas Story & Son LLC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,408 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 19 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 7.0% of Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $17,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 47.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,507 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,232,000 after buying an additional 2,757 shares during the period. 49 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 700 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthPLAN Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 14,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,778,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $943.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $418.17 billion, a PE ratio of 56.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $562.01 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $893.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $850.73.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.