Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 9,961 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 832.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,158 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,961 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.5% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 58.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 32,701 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $23,958,000 after buying an additional 12,048 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,968 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $11,699,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the first quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 964 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Ballast Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Ballast Inc. now owns 3,076 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,254,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kades & Cheifetz LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $905.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $970.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $870.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $799.33.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST traded down $3.69 on Friday, reaching $842.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,284,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,995,215. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $530.56 and a fifty-two week high of $896.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $827.90 and a 200-day moving average of $752.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $373.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.98 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total value of $567,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,228,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.