Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Elite Wealth Management Inc.

Key Points

• Elite Wealth Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 43.9%, selling 2,321 shares and retaining a total of 2,969 shares valued at $2.94 million.
• Insider sales included EVP Yoram Rubanenko selling 4,000 shares for nearly $3.9 million, representing a 40.92% decrease in his position.
• Costco reported earnings of $5.87 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with revenue rising 8.1% year-over-year to $86.16 billion.

Elite Wealth Management Inc. decreased its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,969 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,321 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for about 1.0% of Elite Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Elite Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COST shares. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST opened at $942.89 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $952.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $971.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.34 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $418.15 billion, a PE ratio of 51.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were 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 was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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