Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by World Investment Advisors LLC

World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 385.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,971 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 40,466 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $45,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $928.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $992.61 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $606.35 and a one year high of $997.71. The company has a market capitalization of $439.80 billion, a PE ratio of 59.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $913.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $876.82. 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business 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%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following 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 trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.