Thomas Story & Son LLC Has $17.93 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Thomas Story & Son LLC decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,115 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,511 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 6.9% of Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $17,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Peterson Wealth Services increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 13,616 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $13,479,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $16,718,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,638 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 5,903 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,325,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $922.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.05 billion, a PE ratio of 50.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $934.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $966.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COST. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares in the company, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 10,320 shares of company stock valued at $9,605,487 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.