ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Has $5.13 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 18.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,787 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 915 shares during the period. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 230.0% in the second quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 66 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade 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 available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,136 shares of company stock worth $10,806,570 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $931.46. The stock had a trading volume of 394,726 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,617. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $895.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $855.44. The firm has a market cap of $412.70 billion, a PE ratio of 56.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $572.24 and a one year high of $962.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

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.