Capital Market Strategies LLC Has $2.96 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Capital Market Strategies LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,985 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 2.1% of Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. eCIO Inc. bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,147 shares of company stock valued at $5,031,130. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Erste Group Bank cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,056.67.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4%

COST stock opened at $967.90 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $960.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $975.04. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $429.24 billion, a PE ratio of 54.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

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.