Curat Global LLC Raises Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Curat Global LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 23.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Curat Global LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1%

COST stock opened at $932.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $413.10 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $945.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $972.16. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

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.