Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Belpointe Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Belpointe Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 15.3%, now owning 7,493 shares worth $7,087,000.
• Insider trading activity included Director Susan L. Decker selling 547 shares and EVP Teresa A. Jones selling 600 shares, indicating a decrease in their respective positions in the company.
• Analysts have mixed outlooks for Costco, with price targets ranging from $1,035.00 to $1,225.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Belpointe Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 15.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,493 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,349 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 45.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $107,436,000 after buying an additional 36,384 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,410,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 489.7% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 5,066 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,642,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $3.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $967.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,460,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,950,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $960.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $975.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $429.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,147 shares of company stock valued at $5,031,130 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,056.67.

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.