Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 686 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 13 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Corps Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viewpoint Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the first quarter. Viewpoint Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,543,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COST shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price 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. Finally, 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. Twenty investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.04.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $954.99 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $951.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $971.75. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $423.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.74 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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 issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.