Channel Wealth LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Channel Wealth LLC cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,952 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 18 shares during the period. Channel Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position 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 worth $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $952.07 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $959.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $973.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $422.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.00, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.16 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,056.67.

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.