Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stake Lifted by Chicago Capital LLC

Chicago Capital LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 95,516 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.4% of Chicago Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $84,676,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,867 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at about $6,424,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.8% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 3,533 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on COST shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital lifted their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $890.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $889.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $394.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $889.26 and its 200-day moving average is $833.05. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.