Aljian Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Aljian Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 55,041 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 11.4% of Aljian Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Aljian Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $48,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COST. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,298 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,347,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 120.4% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 7,515 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 4,106 shares during the period. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 500.0% during the 1st quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,958,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on COST shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $907.07 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $897.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $859.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $572.24 and a 1-year high of $962.00. The company has a market cap of $401.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value 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 $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.