Scotia Capital Inc. Has $354.35 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 2.8% in Q1, now holding 374,659 shares valued at approximately $354.35 million.
• Costco reported a quarterly EPS of $4.28, exceeding estimates, with revenue reaching $63.21 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share on August 15th, with a current annualized dividend yield of 0.5%.

Scotia Capital Inc. cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 374,659 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 10,693 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 1.9% of Scotia Capital Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Scotia Capital Inc. owned 0.08% of Costco Wholesale worth $354,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. 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 during the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during 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. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock worth $710,624,000 after buying an additional 343,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $280,046,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on COST shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ COST traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $955.37. 2,388,420 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,166,006. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The company's 50 day moving average price is $983.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $984.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $423.69 billion, a PE ratio of 54.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.