626 Financial LLC Reduces Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

626 Financial LLC trimmed its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 381 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. 626 Financial LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,095,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were 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 $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 is available at this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $910.94 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. 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 50-day moving average price of $953.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $972.16. The firm has a market cap of $403.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.02, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company 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%.The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 is currently 28.56%.

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.