Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Fruth Investment Management

Fruth Investment Management lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,215 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.2% of Fruth Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on COST. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $889.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $394.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $884.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $829.12.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,824 shares of company stock worth $4,260,493 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.