Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Reduced by Congress Asset Management Co.

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 224,364 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 17,262 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 1.5% of Congress Asset Management Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $222,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Traveka Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC now owns 795 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,461 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,376,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 191.9% in the 2nd quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,693 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,567,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ COST opened at $943.31 on Friday. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $418.34 billion, a PE ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $956.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $970.87.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital dropped 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,061.30.

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.