Virtu Financial LLC Lowers Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Virtu Financial LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,400 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 711 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 287.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 836,247 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $710,802,000 after buying an additional 620,341 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total value of $2,844,768.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total value of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % 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 quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $860.00 to $890.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,065.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $931.89.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:COST opened at $994.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $440.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a twelve month low of $623.21 and a twelve month high of $1,007.80. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $920.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $881.93.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.86 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

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.