Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Unigestion Holding SA

Unigestion Holding SA lessened its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 49.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,089 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,917,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,115,000. Finally, Financial Avengers Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.7% during the third quarter. Financial Avengers Inc. now owns 301 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $993.40 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $618.76 and a 52 week high of $997.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $440.15 billion, a PE ratio of 59.95, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $917.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $880.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.86 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $931.89.

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.