Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by WealthShield Partners LLC

WealthShield Partners LLC decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,419 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $225,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after buying an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ring Mountain Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Ring Mountain Capital LLC now owns 401 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on COST shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.05 billion, a PE ratio of 50.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $934.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $966.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

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.