Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Plancorp LLC

Plancorp LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 8.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,883 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 277 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were 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 owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,061.30.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2%

COST stock opened at $945.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $419.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $956.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $970.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.16 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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