Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV Purchases Shares of 625 Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 625 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $971.88 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $582.83 and a 1 year high of $976.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $907.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $872.08. The company has a market cap of $430.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.65, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

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.