Federated Hermes Inc. Has $416.11 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 420,334 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 0.8% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $416,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Peterson Wealth Services grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $13,479,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI raised 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 acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.0% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 15,799 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,640,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after acquiring an additional 711,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,023.41.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

COST stock opened at $894.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $919.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $955.24. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $871.71 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $396.50 billion, a PE ratio of 49.13, a PEG ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 is presently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.