Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Has $355,000 Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 400 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Catalyst Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Private Wealth LLC now owns 928 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. RDA Financial Network grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 11.9% in the first quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 3,133 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% during the first quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,839,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Security Financial Services INC. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.4% during the first quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 414 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Walker Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth $207,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $890.07.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of COST opened at $889.56 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $540.23 and a fifty-two week high of $923.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $889.26 and a 200 day moving average of $833.05. The firm has a market cap of $394.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total transaction of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.