Balboa Wealth Partners Raises Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Balboa Wealth Partners increased its position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,621 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 1.0% of Balboa Wealth Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 99,208.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew 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 purchasing an additional 620,341 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 51,747.5% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 619,578 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 618,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after acquiring an additional 473,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $923.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $409.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.76, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $896.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $855.99. Costco Wholesale Co. has a fifty-two week low of $572.24 and a fifty-two week high of $962.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on COST. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up from $950.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 27th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $880.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $905.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,155,409.10. This represents a 16.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.