Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Increases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Generali Asset Management SPA SGR increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 9.2% in the second quarter, now owning 20,579 shares valued at approximately $20.37 million.
• Costco reported earnings of $5.87 per share for the quarter, beating estimates and showing an 8.1% increase in revenue year-over-year to $86.16 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share to be paid on November 14th, with an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,579 shares of the retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $20,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $768,114,000 after purchasing an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $320,036,000 after purchasing an additional 310,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COST shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,068.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $954.99 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $951.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.75. The company has a market capitalization of $423.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

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.

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