True Wealth Design LLC Buys 83 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 176.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the quarter. True Wealth Design LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the period. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth $20,056,000. Hudson Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $971.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $907.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $872.08. The company has a market cap of $430.61 billion, a PE ratio of 58.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $582.83 and a 1-year high of $976.30.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.