Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Purchases 129 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,838 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $943.80 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $562.01 and a 12 month high of $962.00. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $418.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.96, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $893.49 and a 200-day moving average of $851.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.