Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Has $83.44 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,116 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,389 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.3% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $83,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, 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 have sold 12,136 shares of company stock worth $10,806,570 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.7 %

COST traded down $6.89 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $925.49. 96,496 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,921,261. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $895.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $855.44. The firm has a market cap of $410.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $572.24 and a 1 year high of $962.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 for 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%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 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.