Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Buys 2,871 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,388 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 0.6% of Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $66,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,124,263,000 after acquiring an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $914.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $405.07 billion, a PE ratio of 50.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $936.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $967.41.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.