Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 13,186 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 25.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,772 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13,186 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.4% of Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $37,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,325,416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,141,062,000 after acquiring an additional 90,107 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $10,124,263,000 after acquiring an additional 150,844 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $5,692,035,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock valued at $9,010,257. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $992.70.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $860.56 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $851.40 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $382.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.09, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $915.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $949.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.03 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 29.35%. The business’s revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 27.85%.

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.