Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,363 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 210 shares during the period. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the second 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. Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,424,000. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 328.4% during the third quarter. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,435 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.8% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. 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 research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $891.22 on Friday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $891.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $839.41. The company has a market cap of $394.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.