Swiss National Bank Has $1.17 Billion Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,315,900 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.8% of Swiss National Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Costco Wholesale worth $1,166,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% during the third quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% during the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,424,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of COST opened at $907.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $572.24 and a 12-month high of $962.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $401.90 billion, a PE ratio of 54.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $897.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $858.66.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.