Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Has $35.54 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,085 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,516 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.7% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $35,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $889.03 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $882.80 and a 200-day moving average of $827.34.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,674 shares of company stock worth $5,831,324 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.