Freedom Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,782 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 668 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Insight Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $337,000. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.7% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 29,895 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. NCP Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 25.8% in the third quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 3,423 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,034,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Carlson Capital Management boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 845 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $749,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shum Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,526,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target on the stock. 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 raised their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $961.55 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $905.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $869.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $426.03 billion, a PE ratio of 58.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $582.83 and a 52 week high of $976.30.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.