Sei Investments Co. Acquires 4,071 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 163,382 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,071 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $161,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peterson Wealth Services raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,799 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,640,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.6%

COST opened at $874.41 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.09 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.20 billion, a PE ratio of 48.02, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $917.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $952.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Argus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Gordon Haskett decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,023.41.

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.