Aljian Capital Management LLC Increases Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,041 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 11.4% of Aljian Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Aljian Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $48,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,298 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 120.4% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 4,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 500.0% during the first quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,958,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $907.07 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $897.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $859.62. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $572.24 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00. The company has a market capitalization of $401.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 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 posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Costco Wholesale

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.