Investment House LLC Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Investment House LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,586 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,374 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 3.2% of Investment House LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $63,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Soundwatch Capital LLC increased 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 buying an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Gordon Haskett lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, December 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,023.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.6%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $874.41 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $388.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.02, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $871.09 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $917.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $952.44.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current 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 paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 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.