St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,807 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $891.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.79, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $891.76 and a 200 day moving average of $839.41.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This 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 worth $11,238,510 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.