Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $13.59 Million Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 9.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,366 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,451 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $13,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $236,000. AMJ Financial Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. AMJ Financial Wealth Management now owns 10,536 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $9,654,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Umpqua Bank boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 4,507 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,134,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total value of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,647 shares of company stock worth $10,530,961 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock opened at $1,004.48 on Tuesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,003.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $981.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $445.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on COST. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,034.79.

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.