William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 374,749 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,246 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $201,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Aspire Private Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $20,406,948,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth approximately $22,359,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth approximately $38,000. 66.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on COST. HSBC began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $600.00 price target for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $560.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $482.00 to $502.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $478.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $612.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $586.43.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of COST traded up $3.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $581.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 619,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,801,513. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $447.90 and a 12-month high of $599.89. The stock has a market cap of $257.26 billion, a PE ratio of 40.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $564.00 and its 200 day moving average is $543.03.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 return on equity of 28.10% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business had revenue of $78.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.20 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 3rd were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 2nd. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Patrick J. Callans sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 67,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,619,131.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $566.09, for a total value of $1,132,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,385,479.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 dated Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.76, for a total value of $1,384,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 67,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,619,131.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,265 shares of company stock worth $10,797,118. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.