Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,099 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 333 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $9,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corps Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Luminist Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchbrook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of COST opened at $922.98 on Monday. 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 capitalization of $409.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $871.71 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $934.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $966.35.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective on the stock. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

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.