Global Retirement Partners LLC Takes Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,615 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $15,458,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,124,263,000 after buying an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Argus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,025.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $899.01 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $927.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $962.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $398.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $871.71 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

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.