Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 115,963 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 1,170 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale comprises 3.9% of KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $114,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 900.0% in the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its position in Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $935.68, for a total transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $922.74 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $871.71 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $938.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $968.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.94 billion, a PE ratio of 50.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98. 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 earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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