OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 40.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 379 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 256 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $5,182,316,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,668,069,000 after acquiring an additional 455,043 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ COST opened at $954.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $423.09 billion, a PE ratio of 53.97, a PEG ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $793.00 and a twelve month high of $1,078.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $998.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $983.64.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cfra Research raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

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.