Foster & Motley Inc. Has $369,000 Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 416 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COST. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 921 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,108,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $913.93 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $562.01 and a 1-year high of $923.83. The company has a market cap of $404.93 billion, a PE ratio of 55.16, a P/E/G ratio of 5.45 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $891.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $848.69.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced 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 net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Tigress Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

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.