Prudential PLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Prudential PLC lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,592 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 12,864 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $16,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 15,055.5% in the 2nd quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 320,994 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $317,722,000 after buying an additional 318,876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on COST. Hovde Group began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,025.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $890.60 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $871.71 and a 1 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $930.74 and a 200 day moving average of $964.43. The stock has a market cap of $394.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid 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 of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.