Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 202,446 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 78,097 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.7% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $179,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arvest Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arvest Investments Inc. now owns 316 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 17,189 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,239,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 81.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,199 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 10,156 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $9,004,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 432 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on COST. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price target (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $863.88, for a total value of $431,940.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,560,344. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total transaction 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,560,344. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST traded up $29.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $943.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,277,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,929,356. 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 firm has a market cap of $418.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $562.01 and a twelve month high of $962.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $893.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $851.63.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.