Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Boosts Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 131.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,403 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,499 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,124,263,000 after buying an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $871.71 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $934.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $966.55. 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 has a market capitalization of $409.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.69, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nineteen investment 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, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

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.