ING Groep NV Acquires 25,345 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

ING Groep NV raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 24.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 129,143 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,345 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.7% of ING Groep NV’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $114,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,004,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 18,604 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,877 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 8,952 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,558,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 76.2% in the 1st quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,286 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $980.00 price target (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded down $5.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $928.47. The company had a trading volume of 484,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,092. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $896.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $855.99. The company has a market cap of $411.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.97, a P/E/G ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $572.24 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.