Payden & Rygel Has $15.69 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Payden & Rygel lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 20.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,700 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $15,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 62.8% in the 3rd quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 2,417 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. Hudson Value Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.6% in the third quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,133,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 66.9% during the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. now owns 3,088 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 52.1% during the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 7,645 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,424,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1 %

COST traded down $9.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $920.22. 350,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,921,229. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $577.71 and a 1 year high of $962.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $407.72 billion, a PE ratio of 55.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $898.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $862.25.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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 business had revenue of $79.70 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid 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 was Friday, November 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $1,005.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $908.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.