Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC Has $6.33 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 12.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,397 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 874 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew 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. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $768,114,000 after acquiring an additional 370,806 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $320,036,000 after acquiring an additional 310,197 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST opened at $929.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $944.24 and a 200-day moving average of $971.91. The company has a market cap of $412.09 billion, a PE ratio of 51.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.34 and a one year high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.