Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST is Cypress Capital Management LLC WY’s 2nd Largest Position

Cypress Capital Management LLC WY boosted its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,902 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 5.3% of Cypress Capital Management LLC WY’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Cypress Capital Management LLC WY’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of 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. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2,369.5% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 323,288 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $320,036,000 after buying an additional 310,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,157,994.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,817,966.10. This represents a 19.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 7,920 shares of company stock worth $7,373,175 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.1%

Costco Wholesale stock opened at $922.74 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $871.71 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market capitalization of $408.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $938.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $968.77. 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 issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued 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 of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on COST. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,050.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Argus raised their price objective 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, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,063.88.

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.