TrinityPoint Wealth LLC Sells 360 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

TrinityPoint Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,201 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,298 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,347,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 120.4% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 4,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 500.0% in the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,958,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett raised Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $907.07 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $572.24 and a 1 year high of $962.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $897.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $859.62. The firm has a market cap of $401.90 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.