Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,370 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.7% of Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $219,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Corps Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,638 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Aspect Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viewpoint Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective 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. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $942.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $946.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.51. The firm has a market cap of $417.50 billion, a PE ratio of 51.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.