Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 316 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,765 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 316 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.8% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $26,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Traveka Wealth LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the second quarter. Traveka Wealth LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Cadent Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 4.1% in the second 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 last quarter. Kingsman Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 4.5% during 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 increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 191.9% during the 2nd quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,693 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $4,567,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Loop Capital reduced 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 note on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,061.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $943.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $956.40 and a 200-day moving average of $970.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.16 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. 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 (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

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.