Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Holdings Lowered by Kennedy Investment Group

Kennedy Investment Group trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,849 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.8% of Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after buying an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 84.0% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was 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 $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $945.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $956.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $970.80. The firm has a market cap of $419.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,061.30.

Costco Wholesale 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.