Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,385 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,695 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $56,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,634,627 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,941,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,174 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,210,385 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,069,186,000 after buying an additional 111,505 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 118,320.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,396,524 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,376,513,000 after buying an additional 7,390,278 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,851,678 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,150,426,000 after buying an additional 256,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $2,328,844,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $482.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $570.00 to $580.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $535.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $586.43.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.76, for a total transaction of $1,384,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 67,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,619,131.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.75, for a total transaction of $2,509,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,015,333.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.76, for a total value of $1,384,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 67,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,619,131.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,265 shares of company stock worth $10,797,118. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded down $1.43 on Friday, reaching $577.15. 1,774,272 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,823,492. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $447.90 and a fifty-two week high of $599.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $564.00 and a 200 day moving average of $542.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.53 billion, a PE ratio of 40.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 28.10%. The company had revenue of $78.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

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.