Keeler Thomas Management LLC Trims Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Keeler Thomas Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 377 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,735 shares during the period. Keeler Thomas Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 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 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 purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on COST. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $932.14 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $945.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $971.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $413.11 billion, a PE ratio of 51.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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

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.