Heritage Investment Group Inc. Acquires 75 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Heritage Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 558 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 230.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $905.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of COST traded down $16.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $907.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,269,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,030. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $572.24 and a 52 week high of $962.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $897.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $857.72. The stock has a market cap of $401.90 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly 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 prior year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.