Axiom Investors LLC DE Sells 45,175 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Axiom Investors LLC DE decreased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 300,641 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 45,175 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 2.6% of Axiom Investors LLC DE’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Axiom Investors LLC DE’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $284,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Doheny Asset Management CA increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 4,230 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,001,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 396,217 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $346,912,000 after purchasing an additional 19,402 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 6,259 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $5,819,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,383 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $14,548,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 181,008 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $171,194,000 after purchasing an additional 3,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $958.54 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $425.09 billion, a PE ratio of 54.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.16 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $969.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $985.06.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 29.50%.

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.