Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s 9th Largest Position

Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,404 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 22 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.8% of Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,842,241,000 after purchasing an additional 81,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of COST stock traded up $7.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $883.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,517,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,961,015. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $875.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $821.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

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.