Sei Investments Co. Buys 635 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 314,521 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned approximately 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $169,337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth approximately $209,000. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 200.0% in the second quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd now owns 1,500 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.7% in the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,267 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 9.8% in the second quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 112,149 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $60,379,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 687.0% in the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 3,387 shares in the last quarter. 66.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,015,333.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Richard A. Galanti sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.57, for a total transaction of $1,131,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 28,138 shares in the company, valued at $15,914,008.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $2,509,875.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,015,333.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,265 shares of company stock worth $10,797,118. 0.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST traded up $2.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $583.58. The stock had a trading volume of 482,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,800,033. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $447.90 and a 52 week high of $599.89. The firm has a market cap of $258.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $564.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $543.67.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 26th. The retailer reported $4.86 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $78.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.71 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Investors of record on Friday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.02 per share. 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 28.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $619.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $600.00 to $612.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $482.00 to $502.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $586.43.

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.