Ignite Planners LLC Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Ignite Planners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,044 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 24 shares during the quarter. Ignite Planners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised 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 valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second 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 holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,360,168 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $26,640,940,000 after acquiring an additional 485,051 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $873.59 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $387.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.13, a PEG ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $875.41 and a 200 day moving average of $822.49. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $540.23 and a one year high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at $5,041,057.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Loop Capital lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $915.00 to $925.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 target price (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $883.04.

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.