Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 2,576 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 16.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,897 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 2,576 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.9% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $12,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter worth approximately $236,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,654,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $241,000. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James C. Klauer sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $981.07, for a total value of $3,924,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,161,193.58. This represents a 8.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,647 shares of company stock worth $10,530,961. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $980.29 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,002.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $981.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $434.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.60, a PEG ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.24.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.