Huntington National Bank Buys 9,113 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 195,895 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,113 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.3% of Huntington National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $173,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortis Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the third quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 5,938 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,265,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 15.3% in the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,369 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the third quarter. Bell Bank now owns 2,332 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.8% in the third quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 5,787 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the third quarter. GHE LLC now owns 6,475 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,720,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

COST opened at $933.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $572.24 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $895.38 and its 200 day moving average is $855.44. The stock has a market cap of $413.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

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.