Strategy Asset Managers LLC Purchases 1,264 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,302 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,143,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,424,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten 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, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $930.15 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $577.34 and a 52 week high of $962.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $898.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $862.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.12 billion, a PE ratio of 56.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.