Railway Pension Investments Ltd Grows Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 85.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 111,442 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,300 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $81,646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 284,109 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $208,689,000 after acquiring an additional 12,276 shares in the last quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 76.8% during the first quarter. Tactive Advisors LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 981 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $329,000. Finally, Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $5.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $822.08. The company had a trading volume of 2,598,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,182,416. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $530.56 and a fifty-two week high of $896.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $843.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $770.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $364.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.02% and a net margin of 2.83%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.43 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total value of $1,266,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,837,131 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $875.00 target price (up from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $805.46.

About Costco Wholesale

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.