Grimes & Company Inc. Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second 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 bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $893.42 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The stock has a market cap of $395.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $891.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $836.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.16 dividend. 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 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This 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 this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

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.