1834 Investment Advisors Co. Sells 179 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

1834 Investment Advisors Co. lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,477 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 179 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $710,802,000 after purchasing an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $890.17 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $560.13 and a 52-week high of $923.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $394.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $891.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $848.34.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.