S. R. Schill & Associates Lowers Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

S. R. Schill & Associates trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 318 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.2% of S. R. Schill & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. S. R. Schill & Associates’ holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,056.67.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $967.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $429.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average of $960.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $975.04. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,147 shares of company stock valued at $5,031,130 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.