Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Arista Wealth Management LLC

Arista Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,545 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.8% of Arista Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Arista Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $886.07 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $892.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $847.07. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $560.13 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $392.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $905.30.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents 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 at this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.