Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Texas Yale Capital Corp.

Texas Yale Capital Corp. lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,571 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Corps Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 3,071 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,327,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Park Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $923.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $938.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $969.02. The company has a market capitalization of $409.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.72, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released 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 analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on COST. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,063.88.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.