Slow Capital Inc. Sells 277 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Slow Capital Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,292 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 277 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.9% of Slow Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Slow Capital Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Private Wealth LLC now owns 928 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. RDA Financial Network lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.9% during the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 3,133 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,295,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% during the first quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,839,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.4% during the first quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Walker Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $207,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $889.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $394.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $889.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $833.05. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $890.07.

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.