Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Buys 10,054 Shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 44.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,858 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 10,054 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.7% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $29,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.1% in the third quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,149 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,792,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 3,034,491 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,690,138,000 after acquiring an additional 78,590 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 105,621 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $93,635,000 after purchasing an additional 16,836 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 760 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.3% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,573 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,827,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Richard A. Galanti sold 1,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $894.68, for a total transaction of $1,266,866.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,514,232. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 4,400 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 directly owns 10,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,091,512.30. The trade was a 30.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock worth $9,826,115 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on COST. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $935.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $950.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $955.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $925.00 to $927.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $873.00 price target on the stock. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $908.81.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of COST stock opened at $964.01 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $427.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.80. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $582.83 and a 12-month high of $976.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $901.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $866.19.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.91 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 31.05% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.86 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

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.