Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Trims Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 221,618 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 15,191 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $219,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the second quarter worth about $5,692,035,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 96,316.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,378,758 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,364,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $912.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $404.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.13, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $871.71 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $922.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $959.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COST shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,025.07.

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.