Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock: One Way Holdings LLC Grows Holdings

One Way Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,027 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the quarter. One Way Holdings LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $20,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at about $6,781,946,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 31.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,901,594 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $22,359,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,749,362 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $2,362,188,000. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 103,637.0% in the second quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,500,062 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,549,616,000 after acquiring an additional 2,497,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at about $726,689,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.93, for a total value of $2,015,046.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 7,134 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,534,244.62. This represents a 23.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $958.21, for a total value of $1,054,031.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 3,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,964,701.74. The trade was a 26.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,100.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,100.00 to $1,065.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,160.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,086.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $1,012.28 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $844.06 and a one year high of $1,096.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $943.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $970.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $448.57 billion, a PE ratio of 48.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The retailer reported $6.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.21. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 27.60%. The business had revenue of $95.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 22.70 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. This represents a $5.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.32%.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates a membership-based warehouse retail business under the Costco name. The company sells merchandise in bulk and at competitive prices through warehouse clubs and e-commerce platforms, serving individual consumers, businesses and other organizations.

Its product selection includes groceries and fresh foods, household supplies, appliances, electronics, furniture, apparel, health and beauty products, jewelry, automotive products and prescription drugs. Costco also provides services such as optical care, pharmacy services, hearing-aid sales, travel offerings and fuel sales, depending on location.

The company traces its roots to Price Club, which opened in San Diego in 1976.