Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 23.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 384,175 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,898 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.8% of Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Costco Wholesale worth $340,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 656.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 101,028 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $74,015,000 after purchasing an additional 87,672 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 74.9% during the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 7,715 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the first quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 210.5% in the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $964.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $582.83 and a 52-week high of $976.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $901.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $864.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.