Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is Haverford Trust Co’s 7th Largest Position

Haverford Trust Co grew its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 305,195 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 2.6% of Haverford Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Haverford Trust Co owned approximately 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $270,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the first quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 1,386 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.3% during the first quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 5,672 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,156,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.7% during the first quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 412 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price 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. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,136 shares of company stock valued at $10,806,570 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $932.38 on Wednesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $894.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $854.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a PE ratio of 56.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $572.24 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.