Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by Exeter Financial LLC

Exeter Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 719 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in 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 during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,790,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,842,241,000 after purchasing an additional 81,853 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $873.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $387.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $875.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $822.49.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.