Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC Sells 135 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 6.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,955 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 582,158 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $576,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA now owns 2,286 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 35.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 2,714 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,686,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 82.3% in the 2nd quarter. National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives now owns 23,700 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $23,462,000 after acquiring an additional 10,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Bode LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the second quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 17,454 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $17,278,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $913.86 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $871.71 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $937.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $967.78. The stock has a market cap of $405.00 billion, a PE ratio of 50.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 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 the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,526,336.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,851 shares in the company, valued at $6,410,343.68. This represents a 28.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 7,920 shares of company stock valued at $7,373,175 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on COST. Daiwa Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,005.00 to $947.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,063.88.

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.