Drake & Associates LLC Buys 196 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Drake & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,659 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.5% of Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 51,509 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $45,664,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 1,213 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 278 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,315 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,577,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 258.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,671 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,552,000 after buying an additional 13,468 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upped 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. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $890.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $885.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $888.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $831.04. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a market cap of $392.48 billion, a PE ratio of 54.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.