The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 331,376 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 24,669 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $178,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 5,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 33.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 383,691 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $220,948,000 after purchasing an additional 96,566 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 87.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 232 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $333,000. Finally, Next Century Growth Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC now owns 3,414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.31% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
COST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $478.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $615.00 to $630.00 in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Raymond James raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $586.43.
Read Our Latest Report on COST
Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4 %
Costco Wholesale stock opened at $591.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $261.82 billion, a PE ratio of 41.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.78. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $447.90 and a 12 month high of $599.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $566.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $545.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.57.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $78.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.72 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 28.10% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 3rd were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.81%.
Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale
In other news, EVP Caton Frates sold 1,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.64, for a total value of $675,168.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,705,358.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total value of $2,509,875.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,015,333.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caton Frates sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $562.64, for a total value of $675,168.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,705,358.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,797,118 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.
About Costco Wholesale
(Free Report)
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding COST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST – Free Report).
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