Capital Management Associates Inc Sells 417 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Capital Management Associates Inc reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 48.0%, selling 417 shares and ending with 452 shares worth approximately $447,000.
• Amid recent market developments, analysts have adjusted their price targets for Costco, with JPMorgan lowering it from $1,160 to $1,050 while maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Costco reported earnings of $5.87 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing expectations, with a total revenue of $86.16 billion, reflecting an 8.1% year-over-year increase.

Capital Management Associates Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 452 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 417 shares during the quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $907.00 price target on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,067.19.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST opened at $914.80 on Thursday. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $952.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $971.37. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $405.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.24, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.56%.

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.

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