Rathbones Group PLC Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Rathbones Group PLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 276,130 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 4,217 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 1.2% of Rathbones Group PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Costco Wholesale worth $273,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted 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 worth $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were 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 owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Argus raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,130.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

COST opened at $922.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $408.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $871.71 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $938.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $968.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Costco Wholesale’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be given 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 is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

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.