Archer Investment Corp Sells 100 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Archer Investment Corp trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,150 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COST. Corps Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the period. Luminist Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Birchbrook Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,025.07.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ COST opened at $893.29 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $395.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.05, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $929.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $963.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.