Condor Capital Management Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Condor Capital Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,568 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Condor Capital Management’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COST. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,501 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,314,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the second quarter. Opinicus Capital Inc. now owns 1,812 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 108,816 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $107,721,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 178,481 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $176,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Security Financial Services INC. boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 10.4% during the second quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 489 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $934.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $966.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $409.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. The trade was a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.