Financial Insights Inc. lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 37.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,838 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.8% of Financial Insights Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Financial Insights Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer's stock worth $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $894.57.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on COST
Costco Wholesale Stock Performance
Shares of COST stock opened at $893.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $395.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.92, a PEG ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $890.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $836.49. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 28.00%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
Costco Wholesale Profile
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Free Report)
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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