Salomon & Ludwin LLC Raises Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 765 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after acquiring an additional 618,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $890.96 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $543.64 and a twelve month high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $892.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $841.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,636 shares of company stock worth $11,238,510 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $894.57.

Costco Wholesale 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.