Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stake Lowered by Harfst & Associates Inc.

Harfst & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,688 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 796 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Harfst & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd grew 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 buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Luminist Capital LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.4% in the first quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 target price for the company. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,025.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $908.26 on Thursday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $924.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $960.46. The company has a market cap of $402.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm 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%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. On average, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

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.