Truepoint Inc. Invests $465,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Truepoint Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 524 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,808,255 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,489,574,000 after buying an additional 32,074 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $964.01 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $582.83 and a 1 year high of $976.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $901.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $865.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly 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 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 analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current 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 paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.