Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Acquires 697 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,156 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 697 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 6,855 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,022,000 after buying an additional 1,054 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2,358.9% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,712 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,709,000 after buying an additional 17,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,894 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,318,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 target price (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of COST traded up $29.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $943.80. 3,277,090 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,929,356. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $562.01 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $893.49 and a 200-day moving average of $850.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.