Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Shares Bought by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 48.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 412,578 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,120 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 0.9% of BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $365,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fermata Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the second quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,144,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 4.7% in the third quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares in the company, valued at $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $928.08 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1-year low of $577.71 and a 1-year high of $962.00. The company has a market capitalization of $411.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.01, a PEG ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $899.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $862.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $908.81.

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.