Chiron Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,514 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,115,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fermata Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.6% during the third quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 1,968 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the second quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the third quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 4,675 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,144,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.7% during the third quarter. Horizon Wealth Management LLC now owns 268 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.5% during the third quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $993.40 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $618.76 and a 12-month high of $997.71. The stock has a market cap of $440.15 billion, a PE ratio of 59.95, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $917.82 and a 200 day moving average of $880.63.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the company’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 value of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,514,232. This represents a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,091,512.30. This represents a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $830.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,065.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,075.00 price objective (up previously from $980.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.