Quadrature Capital Ltd Invests $585,000 in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 591 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $585,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 2,593 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,560,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 189,314 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $187,408,000 after acquiring an additional 8,306 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,785 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,747,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 14,863 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $14,642,000 after acquiring an additional 3,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of COST opened at $911.96 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $921.94 and its 200-day moving average is $958.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $404.16 billion, a PE ratio of 50.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on COST. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective on the stock. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,025.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.