Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Meritas Wealth Management LLC

Meritas Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on COST shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $780.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $875.67 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $388.21 billion, a PE ratio of 54.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.38 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $874.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $820.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.