Community Financial Services Group LLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Community Financial Services Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,150 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 556 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.6% of Community Financial Services Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Community Financial Services Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $285,618,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.3 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $886.77 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $393.14 billion, a PE ratio of 54.94, 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 quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $889.73 and a 200 day moving average of $835.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

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.