Sigma Planning Corp Buys 424 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,235 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth $6,424,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. TD Cowen raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $943.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $893.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $850.73. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $562.01 and a 12-month high of $962.00. The company has a market cap of $418.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.96, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s 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.