West Family Investments Inc. Has $1.78 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,002 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.6% of West Family Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $919.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $407.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $577.34 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $898.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $860.94. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.