Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Has $1.08 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC drastically reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 93.8%, now holding 1,144 shares valued at approximately $1.08 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their investments in Costco, with Vanguard Group and GAMMA Investing LLC making significant acquisitions in the first quarter, bringing institutional ownership to 68.48%.
• Costco reported $4.28 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations, and has announced a $1.30 quarterly dividend, equating to a 0.6% yield.

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC reduced its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 93.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,144 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 17,389 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 4.1% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $1,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock worth $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,695,796,000 after acquiring an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,175,579,000 after acquiring an additional 125,441 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of COST opened at $943.32 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $418.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $966.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $981.17.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given 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 target price of $1,050.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the 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. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale 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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