Amalgamated Bank Trims Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Amalgamated Bank cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,894 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 3,741 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of Amalgamated Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $102,849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after acquiring an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,410,343.68. The trade was a 28.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Tiffany Marie Barbre sold 1,239 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $934.62, for a total value of $1,157,994.18. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $1,115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,068.15.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.3%

COST stock opened at $912.42 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $404.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 52 week low of $867.34 and a 52 week high of $1,078.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $941.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $971.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is 28.56%.

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.