Waverton Investment Management Ltd Trims Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Waverton Investment Management Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,779 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 482 shares during the quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 9,617 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,526,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,309 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $25,096,000 after buying an additional 853 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Associates Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,376 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,993,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 341 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,136 shares of company stock worth $10,806,570 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $932.88 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $893.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $852.53. The stock has a market cap of $413.33 billion, a PE ratio of 56.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $572.24 and a 52 week high of $962.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.