UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,075,065 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 70,561 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.7% of UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,726,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,013,394,000 after buying an additional 125,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,690,138,000 after buying an additional 78,590 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $961.55 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $426.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.03, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $582.83 and a fifty-two week high of $976.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $905.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $869.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.