Global Trust Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,725 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.9% of Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $89,000. Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,697 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,372,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 4,472 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,276,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.7% in the first quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 471 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winthrop Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% in the first quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 749 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Barclays raised their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

COST stock opened at $891.22 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $891.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $837.33. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $394.87 billion, a PE ratio of 54.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 31.05%. Costco Wholesale’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 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.