Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Purchased by Capital Investment Counsel LLC

Capital Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,365 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 2.2% of Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position 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 valued at $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $285,618,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of COST opened at $964.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.18, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $582.83 and a one year high of $976.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $901.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $865.47. 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 posted 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 company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.