Saudi Central Bank Makes New Investment in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 175 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $166,000. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 0.9% of Saudi Central Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Investment Management Corp VA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COST. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $943.32 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $966.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $981.17. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $418.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.