Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) is Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 224,352 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 15.9% of Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Greenbrier Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $209,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $961.55 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $906.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $870.06. The firm has a market cap of $426.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $582.83 and a 1-year high of $976.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. 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 equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

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.