BCS Wealth Management Grows Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

BCS Wealth Management increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 975 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. BCS Wealth Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $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 position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $885.29 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $888.57 and a 200 day moving average of $831.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on COST shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $890.07.

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.