Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Increased by Unique Wealth LLC

Unique Wealth LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 756 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Unique Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position 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 worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total transaction of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,174 shares of company stock worth $7,097,624. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $875.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $874.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $820.24. The company has a market capitalization of $388.21 billion, a PE ratio of 54.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.