CapWealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

CapWealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 44.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,558 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 9,276 shares during the period. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $10,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% during 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 purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $236,000. Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $241,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,976 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $63,200,000 after purchasing an additional 16,967 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST opened at $992.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $440.01 billion, a PE ratio of 56.28, a PEG ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,005.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $981.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on COST. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,034.79.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,496,950. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.