D.B. Root & Company LLC Cuts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

D.B. Root & Company LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,069 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 508 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.9% of D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. D.B. Root & Company LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $86,000. CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 964 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $706,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,699,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $899.25 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $562.01 and a one year high of $923.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $891.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $848.69. The firm has a market cap of $398.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.27, a PEG ratio of 5.45 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred 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 directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Truist Financial lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale 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.