Virtue Capital Management LLC Has $824,000 Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Virtue Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 14.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 929 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,534,464,000 after purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,474,733 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,253,508,000 after buying an additional 1,473,248 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 287.3% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after buying an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after acquiring an additional 338,780 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $993.40 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $917.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $880.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $440.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.95, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52 week low of $618.76 and a 52 week high of $997.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total value of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $975.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $676.00 to $755.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $931.89.

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.