Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC Sells 279 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,689 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.8% of Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Madison Park Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the third quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $318,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on COST. 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $889.56 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $889.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $833.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973 over the last quarter. Corporate 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.