Consolidated Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Consolidated Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,601 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 3.1% of Consolidated Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Consolidated Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,069.58.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 2.9%

COST opened at $915.95 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $955.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $971.07. 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 company has a market cap of $406.21 billion, a PE ratio of 50.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 31.10%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.