Versant Capital Management Inc Has $575,000 Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 627 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in 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 during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 75,894.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 338,935 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $300,473,000 after acquiring an additional 338,489 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,816 shares of company stock worth $6,981,347 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Redburn Atlantic lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $755.00 to $907.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,011.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $909.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $403.86 billion, a PE ratio of 53.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $640.51 and a fifty-two week high of $1,008.25. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $942.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $895.94.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.25%.

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.