Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,052 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,107 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COST. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 43,356,271 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,920,107,000 after purchasing an additional 711,560 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,325,416 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $18,141,062,000 after buying an additional 90,107 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.5% during the second 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 Costco Wholesale in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,692,035,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in 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. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $860.56 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $851.40 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $915.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $949.15. The company has a market capitalization of $382.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.09, a PEG ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The retailer reported $4.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $0.07. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 29.35%. The business had revenue of $67.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.04 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,045.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Roth Capital set a $769.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $992.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP William Richard Wilcox sold 2,400 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $930.13, for a total value of $2,232,312.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,260. The trade was a 54.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.