Pullen Investment Management LLC Has $1.70 Million Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Pullen Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,718 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of 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. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $932.14 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $945.23 and its 200-day moving average is $972.11. The stock has a market cap of $413.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.34 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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