Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Optas LLC

Optas LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,477 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $914.80 on Thursday. 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 moving average price is $952.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $971.37. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $867.34 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

About Costco Wholesale

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.