Cable Hill Partners LLC Purchases 182 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,369 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after buying an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $933.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $413.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.35, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $572.24 and a 1 year high of $962.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $895.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $855.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett upgraded 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. 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 available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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.

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.