First Long Island Investors LLC Takes $764,000 Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

First Long Island Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 862 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 10,902 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,987,000 after acquiring an additional 3,352 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 15,843 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $11,607,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Towercrest Capital Management bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $257,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ COST traded down $10.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $913.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 650,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,292. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $897.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $856.46. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $572.24 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.35, a PEG ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale 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.