Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Sells 768 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 29.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,874 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 768 shares during the quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at about $6,424,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $907.07 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $572.24 and a 12 month high of $962.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $401.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.74, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $897.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $858.66.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 target price (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.