Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Holdings Trimmed by Howard Capital Management Group LLC

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Group LLC reduced its stake in Costco by 1.3%, retaining 56,321 shares valued at approximately $55.76 million, making Costco the group's 7th largest holding.
• Costco's Q3 earnings per share reached $5.87, surpassing estimates, and the company reported revenues of $86.16 billion, up 8.1% year-over-year.
• Wall Street analysis reveals a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Costco, with target prices ranging from $1,000 to $1,418.

Howard Capital Management Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,321 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 767 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up approximately 3.9% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Howard Capital Management Group LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $55,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,066 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,055,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 61,834 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $61,211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,860 shares during the period. NovaPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,610,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Cove Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 44.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cove Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,084,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the period. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,668 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $4,621,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $915.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $406.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.30, a P/E/G ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.97. 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 of $955.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $970.76.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 31.10%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COST shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,333.00 to $1,418.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial cut 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 note on Friday. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,160.00 to $1,050.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,069.58.

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.

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