Motco Reduces Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Motco lowered its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,086 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 245 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.5% of Motco’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Motco’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $14,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COST. Peninsula Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 980 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on COST. Evercore ISI decreased 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 research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $935.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $992.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $983.45. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $414.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.06, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale 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.