Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Position Boosted by Cypress Capital Management LLC WY

Cypress Capital Management LLC WY raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,902 shares of the retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for 5.3% of Cypress Capital Management LLC WY’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviva PLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 373,383 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $369,627,000 after buying an additional 24,165 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 69.0% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 270,461 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $267,740,000 after buying an additional 110,445 shares in the last quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the second quarter. ZEGA Investments LLC now owns 5,363 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $5,309,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% in the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 29,863 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $29,583,000 after acquiring an additional 2,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the second quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 48,766 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $48,276,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of COST opened at $922.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $938.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $968.77. 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 capitalization of $408.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

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 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.