SFE Investment Counsel Reduces Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,653 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.9% of SFE Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.7% during the first quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $951,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Rational Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.2% in the first quarter. Rational Advisors Inc. now owns 4,117 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,894,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Stillwater Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Stillwater Wealth Management Group now owns 4,439 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,198,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI reduced 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 note on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $922.74 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $408.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.67, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $938.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $968.70. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $871.71 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Costco Wholesale Company 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.