State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 431,511 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.8% of State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $427,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,124,263,000 after buying an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $908.26 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $402.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.88, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $924.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $960.46. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $871.71 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BTIG Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of 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. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,025.07.

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.