Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Stock Position Lowered by Cresset Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Cresset Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 9.5%, owning 38,771 shares worth approximately $36.67 million as of the latest filing with the SEC.
• Several large investors, including Schneider Downs Wealth Management and Nations Financial Group, have both increased their holdings in Costco during the first quarter, demonstrating ongoing interest from institutional investors.
• Costco announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, which represents an annualized payout of $5.20 and a dividend yield of 0.5% as part of their financial strategy.

Cresset Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,771 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 4,089 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $36,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. 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 buying an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 valued at $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,656,828,000 after buying an additional 18,897 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, 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 traded up $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $980.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,656,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,205,056. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $434.99 billion, a PE ratio of 55.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $971.72 and a 200-day moving average of $986.12.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%.Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.