Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,973 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,802 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,510,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 763,811 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $504,186,000 after purchasing an additional 89,109 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 9,250 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 14,689 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,696,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Finally, Baldwin Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 10,084 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,656,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Truist Financial lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’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 directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $878.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $872.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $819.85. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $540.23 and a twelve month high of $923.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $389.48 billion, a PE ratio of 54.43, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

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.