BOCHK Asset Management Ltd Lowers Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

BOCHK Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 31.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 5,168 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,787,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.3% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 834 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 1,053 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $771,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,028 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,710,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.6 %

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $893.42 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $891.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $836.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $395.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.92, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

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.