Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by GLOBALT Investments LLC GA

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,752 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Phillips Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.9% during the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the period. Aljian Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 55,041 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $48,795,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth about $238,000. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.7% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 138,911 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $123,147,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.8 %

COST opened at $907.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $572.24 and a 12 month high of $962.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $897.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $859.62. The stock has a market cap of $401.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

About Costco Wholesale

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.