United Services Automobile Association Sells 2,283 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

United Services Automobile Association reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 18.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,340 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,283 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 33.5% in the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 960 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $289,000. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.8% during the second quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 722 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 33,291 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $28,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $992.61 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $913.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $876.82. The firm has a market cap of $439.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $606.35 and a twelve month high of $997.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $928.50.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.