Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,142 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,003 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after buying an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after buying an additional 324,973 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during 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. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $1.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $994.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,749,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,399. The company has a market cap of $440.72 billion, a PE ratio of 60.80, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $920.14 and a 200-day moving average of $881.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $623.21 and a 52 week high of $1,007.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $931.89.

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.