Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Holdings Trimmed by Capital Investment Counsel LLC

Capital Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,877 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 761 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 2.0% of Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 60,342 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $59,735,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 159.8% in the second quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,709 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $31,390,000 after purchasing an additional 19,502 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% in the second quarter. Reliant Investment Partners LLC now owns 675 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 24.7% in the second quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,602 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Clark Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 7.3% in the second quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $929.85 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $412.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.06, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $944.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.91.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COST. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale 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.