Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 19.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,240 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 549 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business’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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $915.38 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $953.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $971.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $405.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 issued 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 payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.