Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 341 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,275 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.8% of Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,833,870 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,916,118,000 after buying an additional 473,702 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 7,364,453 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,824,778 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,802,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285,533 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,102,941,000 after purchasing an additional 88,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 28.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,078 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,307,363,000 after purchasing an additional 338,780 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,983.70. This represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $891.15, for a total transaction of $3,921,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,202 shares in the company, valued at $9,091,512.30. This trade represents a 30.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $1,016.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $985.00 to $990.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Costco Wholesale from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $925.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $905.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $923.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $896.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $855.99. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $572.24 and a 1 year high of $962.00. The company has a market capitalization of $409.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.76, a P/E/G ratio of 5.76 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company had revenue of $79.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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.