Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stake Lifted by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 163,382 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,071 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $161,741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frisch Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 49.3% during the 2nd quarter. Frisch Financial Group Inc. now owns 997 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 36,702 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $36,333,000 after purchasing an additional 2,416 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 87,426 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $86,547,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at approximately $587,000. Finally, Tripletail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $459,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ COST opened at $874.41 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $917.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $952.44. 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 1-year low of $871.09 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $388.20 billion, a PE ratio of 48.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. BTIG Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price target on the stock. Gordon Haskett cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,023.41.

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.