Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC Has $1.46 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,478 shares of the retailer’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on COST shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $915.38 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization 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 one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $953.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $972.15.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.