Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Braun Bostich & Associates Inc.

Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 431 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.5 %

COST stock opened at $894.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $396.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.43, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $886.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $830.26. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm 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 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America increased their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $886.74.

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.