Winch Advisory Services LLC Has $2.84 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,204 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Winch Advisory Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Winch Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $29,916,118,000 after purchasing an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after acquiring an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after acquiring an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $855.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $894.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock valued at $9,974,973 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $886.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average of $889.73 and a 200-day moving average of $835.23. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $540.23 and a 52-week high of $923.83.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.