Pathstone Holdings LLC Has $117.24 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Pathstone Holdings LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,241 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,420 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.5% of Pathstone Holdings LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $117,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,719 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.3% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 498 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.1% in the first quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 2,254 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. InterOcean Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 5,740 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,206,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ossiam boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1,043.1% during the 1st quarter. Ossiam now owns 178,326 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $130,647,000 after buying an additional 162,726 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $980.00 to $1,075.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $919.51 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $898.08 and its 200 day moving average is $860.94. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $577.34 and a 12-month high of $962.00. The stock has a market cap of $407.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.49, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at $24,514,232. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. The trade was a 27.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.