Boston Common Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Boston Common Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,676 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 488 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Corps Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Farrell Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the first quarter. Farrell Financial LLC now owns 522 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the first quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,035 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value 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. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $915.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $953.54 and a 200 day moving average of $971.61. The stock has a market cap of $405.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.27, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,067.19.

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.