Riverwater Partners LLC Has $747,000 Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Riverwater Partners LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 850 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 15 shares during the quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $893.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $395.85 billion, a PE 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $891.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $836.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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. 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 was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business 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 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $894.57.

About Costco Wholesale

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.