Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST is Emerald Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Emerald Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 628,970 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 18,553 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 79.8% of Emerald Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Emerald Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Costco Wholesale worth $622,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of COST opened at $916.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.16 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $955.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $971.72. The firm has a market cap of $406.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.35, a PEG ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,072.00.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.