Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,483 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,152 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.5% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $35,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COST. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.4% during the first quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 1,076 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,018,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. James J. Burns & Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.8% during the first quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.3% during the first quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 354 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 2.9%

COST opened at $915.95 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $955.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $971.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $406.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 31.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.