Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC Lowers Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,164 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after purchasing an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at about $20,056,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third 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. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten 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.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $964.01 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $582.83 and a 1 year high of $976.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $901.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $865.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 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 earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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