Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,580 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 152 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the first quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% during the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $915.56 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $937.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $968.23. The company has a market cap of $405.76 billion, a PE ratio of 50.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COST. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. BTIG Research started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.88.

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.