814 Shares in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Purchased by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 814 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $722,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,133,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,738,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after buying an additional 2,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 3rd quarter worth $6,424,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total transaction of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was 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 through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. The trade was 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 sold 12,136 shares of company stock valued at $10,806,570. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $932.38 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $413.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $895.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $855.44. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $572.24 and a 1-year high of $962.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.