Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by GAM Holding AG

GAM Holding AG decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,426 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,318 shares during the period. GAM Holding AG’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $920.18 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $940.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $970.92. 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 has a market capitalization of $407.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.53, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.34 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

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.