Harbour Investments Inc. Acquires 481 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,617 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was 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 owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This trade represents 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. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,136 shares of company stock worth $10,806,570 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $932.88 on Tuesday. 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 market capitalization of $413.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $572.24 and a 12 month high of $962.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $893.49 and a 200-day moving average of $852.53.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business 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 $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

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.