Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 5,724 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Costco by 1.9%, owning around 294,410 shares valued at approximately $278.4 million after selling 5,724 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider transactions included EVP Patrick J. Callans selling 3,000 shares, while Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares, with a combined total value of around $3.5 million.
• Costco announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.56%, with the payout ratio currently at 29.5%.

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 294,410 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,724 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Costco Wholesale worth $278,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after acquiring an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 587,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,656,828,000 after purchasing an additional 18,897 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial increased 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of Costco Wholesale stock traded down $7.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $927.51. 1,682,635 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,941,458. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $411.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $986.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $983.48.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.