Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. Raises Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,620 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 1.7% of Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $893.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $891.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $836.93. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The firm has a market cap of $395.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. This trade 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 available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock valued at $11,238,510 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.