Capital Market Strategies LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Capital Market Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,168 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.7% of Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 20,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,454,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,898 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unique Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 756 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 sale, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,097,624 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Gordon Haskett raised Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $883.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $875.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $388.21 billion, a PE ratio of 54.25, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $540.23 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $874.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $820.24.

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. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.30% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.75%.

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.