Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Reduced by Meritas Wealth Management LLC

Meritas Wealth Management LLC cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 456 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 44 shares during the quarter. Meritas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 30.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aspiriant LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,327 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $7,671,983.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, 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

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $875.67 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $540.23 and a 52 week high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $388.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $874.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $820.24.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.04.

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.