Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 9,899 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 19.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,440 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 9,899 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.6% of Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $53,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised 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 worth $6,534,464,000 after acquiring an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of COST opened at $928.08 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $577.71 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company's fifty day moving average is $899.35 and its 200 day moving average is $862.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.20 billion, a PE ratio of 56.01, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business's revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 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.

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