Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH sold 77.1% of its shares in Costco Wholesale, reducing its holdings to 22,041 shares worth approximately $20.77 million.
• Various institutional investors made significant position changes, with GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its stake by over 106,000%, now owning 8.16 million shares valued at about $7.72 billion.
• A recent earnings report revealed Costco's earnings per share (EPS) of $4.28, surpassing estimates, while revenue rose by 8% year-over-year, totaling $63.21 billion.

Erste Asset Management GmbH reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 77.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,041 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 74,018 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $20,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after buying an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Up 0.2%

COST stock opened at $980.85 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $971.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $986.09. The firm has a market cap of $434.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.64, a PEG ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.96.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

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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