Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Acquired by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,435 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,272,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $510,353,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after acquiring an additional 620,341 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $889.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $394.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $889.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $833.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $540.23 and a 12-month high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $890.07.

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.