M3 Advisory Group LLC Buys 63 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

M3 Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 977 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 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 acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $889.56 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $889.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $832.21. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $540.23 and a 1-year high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $394.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of 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, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $890.07.

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.