Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Sells 768 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,874 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 768 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% in the third quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,949 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,933,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Heritage Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 558 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 982 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $1,535,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’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 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $907.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $401.90 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $897.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $858.66. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $572.24 and a 1 year high of $962.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.