Optivise Advisory Services LLC Takes Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Optivise Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 571 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 230.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Truist Financial cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

COST stock opened at $964.01 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $582.83 and a twelve month 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’s 50 day moving average is $901.18 and its 200-day moving average is $864.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.