Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Has $2.39 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,700 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $300,473,000 after buying an additional 338,489 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $990.00 to $1,030.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $962.50.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $988.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $924.72 and a 200-day moving average of $883.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $630.30 and a one year high of $1,007.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $437.93 billion, a PE ratio of 59.65, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

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.