Prospera Financial Services Inc Has $23.35 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,326 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,175 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $23,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 2,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,206,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, Ossiam lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1,043.1% in the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 178,326 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $130,647,000 after purchasing an additional 162,726 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $919.51 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $898.08 and its 200-day moving average is $860.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $577.34 and a 1-year 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 cap of $407.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 company 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.