Biechele Royce Advisors Cuts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Biechele Royce Advisors trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 379 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 26 shares during the period. Biechele Royce Advisors’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 230.0% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $894.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded up $4.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $877.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,625,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,796. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $892.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $844.03. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $552.01 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The company has a market capitalization of $388.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

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.