Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Private Advisory Group LLC

Private Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,777 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,053 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.6% of Private Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Private Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $21,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Vima LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during 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 bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $893.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $881.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $825.57. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $396.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total value of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares in the company, valued at $9,327,041.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,674 shares of company stock valued at $5,831,324. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.