Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC Sells 269 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 0.5%, now holding 58,196 shares, making it the firm's largest investment.
• Costco's stock price currently stands at $960.10, with a 52-week range of $867.16 to $1,078.23 and a market capitalization of $425.79 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30, representing an annualized yield of 0.5% with a payout ratio of 29.50%.

Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,196 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 19.1% of Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Norman Fields Gottscho Capital Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $57,611,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position 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 valued at $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $3,461,159,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,056.67.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Costco Wholesale stock traded up $2.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $954.98. 2,032,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,186,313. The company has a market cap of $423.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $958.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $972.82.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.