Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Decreased by Cabot Wealth Management Inc.

Cabot Wealth Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 215 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 14 shares during the quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,309 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $24,065,000 after buying an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $935,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.1% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,943,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 30.7% in the 2nd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,996 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 2,042 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COST. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Argus upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of COST stock opened at $932.14 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $945.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $972.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

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.