Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Acquired by Qtron Investments LLC

Key Points

• Qtron Investments LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.9%, owning a total of 5,866 shares valued at approximately $5.5 million.
• Insider trading revealed that Costco executives, including EVP Patrick J. Callans, sold shares worth around $9.5 million in the last 90 days, reducing their ownership positions.
• Brokerages are optimistic, with 18 analysts rating Costco as a "buy" and setting a consensus target price of $1,050 for the stock.

Qtron Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,866 shares of the retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.8% of Qtron Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Qtron Investments LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $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 first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $14.3390 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $955.3410. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,669,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,203,902. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $970.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $985.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $423.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.23, a P/E/G ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,050.00.

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.