Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,431 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 758,869 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $62,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 635.7% during the second quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC now owns 2,553 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares during the period. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Roth Capital set a $769.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,025.00 to $1,027.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price target on the stock. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $991.39.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $862.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $913.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $947.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.04. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $844.06 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $382.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257 over the last ninety days. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.