Winthrop Advisory Group LLC Boosts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Winthrop Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 909 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in 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 increased its position 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 valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the 1st 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 position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $913.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $891.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $848.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $404.93 billion, a PE ratio of 55.16, a P/E/G 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $562.01 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on COST shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus 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.