Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by AMI Asset Management Corp

Key Points

• AMI Asset Management Corp reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 4.9%, holding now 23,900 shares worth approximately $23.66 million.
• Costco reported a quarterly EPS of $5.87, surpassing estimates, along with an 8.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $86.16 billion.
• Recent insider transactions included the sale of 4,000 shares by EVP Yoram Rubanenko, decreasing their ownership by 40.92%.

AMI Asset Management Corp cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 4.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,900 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,237 shares during the quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $23,660,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. eCIO Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth about $48,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the period. Finally, Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value 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 represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $916.77 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $953.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $971.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $406.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. The company 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,067.19.

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.

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