Bamco Inc. NY Cuts Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,370 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 345 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth about $610,000. Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $554,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $399,000. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter worth $5,136,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the third quarter worth $90,440,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $982.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $435.16 billion, a PE ratio of 59.27, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12 month low of $591.46 and a 12 month high of $983.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $910.39 and a 200 day moving average of $875.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 28.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

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.