Martin Investment Management LLC Sells 45 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Martin Investment Management LLC cut its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 477 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 45 shares during the period. Martin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $886.07 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a one year low of $560.13 and a one year high of $923.83. The company has a market cap of $392.59 billion, a PE ratio of 53.47, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $892.07 and a 200-day moving average of $847.07.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 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 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 posted $4.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.