West Coast Financial LLC Has $3.12 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

West Coast Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,515 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Oak Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,327,041.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,674 shares of company stock worth $5,831,324. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded down $3.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $889.67. 561,563 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,951,578. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $881.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $825.57. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $394.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COST. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $886.74.

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.