D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires 5,033 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,692 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,033 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.1% of D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $176,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Wealth Services boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 49.3% in the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,780 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares in the last quarter. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $874,000. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% during the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,799 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,640,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Citigroup decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Northcoast Research set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $900.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $994.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,946 shares of company stock worth $8,175,048 in the last 90 days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.9%

COST opened at $854.50 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $844.06 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $379.29 billion, a PE ratio of 45.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a 50 day moving average of $894.79 and a 200 day moving average of $934.32.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 27.85%.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a global chain of membership-only warehouse clubs that sell a wide array of merchandise in bulk at discounted prices. The company’s product mix includes groceries, fresh and frozen food, household goods, electronics, apparel, and seasonal items, augmented by its prominent private-label brand, Kirkland Signature. Costco’s business model centers on annual membership fees and high-volume, low-margin sales, designed to drive repeat purchasing and strong customer loyalty among both consumers and small-business buyers.

Beyond merchandise, Costco provides a range of ancillary services that complement its warehouses, including gasoline stations, pharmacy and optical services, hearing aid centers, photo services, and travel and insurance products.