Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. Purchases 12 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,395 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 0.9% of Thompson Davis & CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $930.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.12 billion, a PE ratio of 56.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $898.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $862.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $577.34 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.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

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.