Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) Holdings Reduced by GSG Advisors LLC

GSG Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 382 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 14 shares during the period. GSG Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2,000.0% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 378 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Cedrus LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Cedrus LLC now owns 1,785 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,177 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,417,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 272,288 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $179,822,000 after purchasing an additional 61,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 866 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $900.00 to $950.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $920.00 to $915.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $875.00 price objective (up previously from $800.00) on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, May 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $925.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $850.00 to $975.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $821.62.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $15.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $854.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,710,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,297,663. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $844.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $776.95. Costco Wholesale Co. has a one year low of $530.56 and a one year high of $896.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $379.02 billion, a PE ratio of 52.97, a PEG ratio of 5.49 and a beta of 0.78.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $58.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.16 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 30.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.75%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $851.53, for a total value of $298,035.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,041,057.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $848.53, for a total transaction of $1,272,795.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,327,041.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,350 shares of company stock worth $2,837,131 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.