Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Sells 5,820 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 5.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 104,549 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 5,820 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $98,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,095,000. Rossmore Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $241,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $943.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $965.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $979.61. The company has a market cap of $418.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.51, a PEG ratio of 5.86 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 fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock worth $10,067,740 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target 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. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

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.