Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Increases Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 67,388 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.6% of Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $66,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.7% during the second quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 5,903 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $914.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.19, a PEG ratio of 5.54 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. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $936.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $967.41.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.