Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Silphium Asset Management Ltd

Silphium Asset Management Ltd cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 20.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,089 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,545 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 2.1% of Silphium Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Silphium Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,028,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Luminist Capital LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Luminist Capital LLC now owns 128 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Birchbrook Inc. boosted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.5% in the first quarter. Birchbrook Inc. now owns 456 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 159 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.4% in the second quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 330 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total value of $2,526,336.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,410,343.68. This trade represents a 28.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. The trade was a 25.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,720 shares of company stock worth $9,010,257 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $894.33 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $925.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $960.83. The company has a market cap of $396.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.11, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Hovde Group began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,025.07.

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.