Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Bought by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,804 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $61,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Argus boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,066.23.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.4%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $930.01 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $952.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $971.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.34 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a PE ratio of 51.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

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.