Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Holdings Lessened by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 44.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,031 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,161 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.2% of Mount Lucas Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in 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 during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after buying an additional 88,550 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after buying an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,248 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $907.07 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $572.24 and a 1 year high of $962.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $897.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $858.66. The company has a market cap of $401.90 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. 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 posted 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. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.