Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Trimmed by Interchange Capital Partners LLC

Interchange Capital Partners LLC cut its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 83.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 842 shares during the quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,050 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 18,108 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 20,579 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Tuttle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Tuttle Capital Management LLC now owns 666 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 21,531 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $21,315,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. 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 on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Twenty equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.04.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ COST opened at $954.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $951.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.75. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $423.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.44, a PEG ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.98.

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. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.