Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Great Lakes Retirement Inc.

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,476 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.1% of Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST 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 PEG 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 moving average of $891.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $836.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’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 transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.