Patton Fund Management Inc. Makes New $6.42 Million Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 7,246 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,424,000. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.3% of Patton Fund Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $886.74.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $887.28. 363,532 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,941,845. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $923.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average of $887.65 and a 200-day moving average of $830.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $874.05, for a total value of $437,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,015,745. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,320,787.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,224 shares of company stock worth $9,974,973. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.