Gouws Capital LLC Sells 20 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Gouws Capital LLC lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,162 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 7.9% of Gouws Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Gouws Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,668,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $6,424,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $5.79 on Friday, reaching $918.10. 550,219 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,922,292. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $572.24 and a one year high of $962.00. The company has a market capitalization of $406.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $897.01 and a 200 day moving average of $856.46.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

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.