King Luther Capital Management Corp Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 39,631 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $35,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 29,200 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $25,886,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,969 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,838,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,931,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 95.0% in the 3rd quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 468 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

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

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $928.08 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $899.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $862.71. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $577.71 and a 52-week high of $962.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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 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 company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

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.