Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Holdings Trimmed by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,052 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,107 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $5,692,035,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,364,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,328 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,291,557 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,248,384,000 after purchasing an additional 383,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $860.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $382.05 billion, a PE ratio of 46.09, a P/E/G ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $851.40 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $915.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $949.15.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 29.35% and a net margin of 2.96%.The business’s revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.04 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction 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 approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were 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 owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,025.00 to $1,027.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Roth Capital set a $769.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $992.70.

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.