National Pension Service Purchases 108,643 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

National Pension Service lifted its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 812,686 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 108,643 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.7% of National Pension Service’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. National Pension Service’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $720,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 557.1% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $48,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 73.5% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 59 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total transaction of $431,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $877.51 on Monday. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $892.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $845.83. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $560.13 and a 12 month high of $923.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.95, a PEG ratio of 5.38 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.16 dividend. 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 0.53%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on COST. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

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.