Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Position Increased by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 16.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,652 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,156 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 74.9% during the first quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 7,715 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 210.5% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 69.2% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $5,471,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ COST opened at $964.01 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $582.83 and a 12 month high of $976.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $901.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $865.47.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Ten investment 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

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.