Benin Management CORP Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Benin Management CORP reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,052 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.5% of Benin Management CORP’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $4.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $885.25. 223,596 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,936,681. 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 simple moving average of $889.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $833.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $540.23 and a 1-year high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $392.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.