Waddell & Associates LLC Invests $209,000 in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Waddell & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 235 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 656.4% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 101,028 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $74,015,000 after purchasing an additional 87,672 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 74.9% in the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 7,715 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,652,000 after purchasing an additional 3,303 shares in the last quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.0% during the first quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 512 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 210.5% in the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,068 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $964.01 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $427.12 billion, a PE ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $901.18 and its 200-day moving average is $864.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $582.83 and a 1 year high of $976.30.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.00%.

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.