Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Boosted by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Blueshift Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 102.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 773 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 391 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the third quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $961.55 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $582.83 and a 12-month high of $976.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $905.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $869.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $426.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.03, a PEG ratio of 5.93 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.