Watershed Private Wealth LLC Sells 16 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Watershed Private Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 248 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16 shares during the period. Watershed Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. BankPlus Trust Department lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 10.9% during the second quarter. BankPlus Trust Department now owns 1,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 9.0% during the second quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 2,396 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 30.0% during the second quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 481 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the second quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 22.3% during the second quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 38,839 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,448,000 after purchasing an additional 7,076 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.4%

COST stock opened at $914.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $952.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.76.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven 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 an average target price of $1,067.19.

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.