Virtus Investment Advisers LLC Sells 72 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Virtus Investment Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 4.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,419 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 72 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $42,920,107,000 after buying an additional 711,560 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,275,056 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $10,124,263,000 after buying an additional 150,844 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth about $5,692,035,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday. Citigroup cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,025.07.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 1.6%

COST stock opened at $908.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $402.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $871.71 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $923.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $960.10.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This trade represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 transaction of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,260. This trade represents a 54.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.