Helen Stephens Group LLC Has $1.33 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Helen Stephens Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,340 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13 shares during the quarter. Helen Stephens Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.5% during the second quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 943 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $933,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 10.2% during the second quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 650 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.9% during the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 33,424 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $33,088,000 after acquiring an additional 2,744 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.6% during the second quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,727,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 404.3% during the second quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,056.67.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,147 shares of company stock worth $5,031,130 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $967.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $960.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $975.04. The stock has a market cap of $429.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.16 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

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.