3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,465 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $930.01 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $952.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $971.48. The firm has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,066.23.

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.