DE Burlo Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• DE Burlo Group Inc. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 25.3%, owning 19,675 shares after selling 6,680 shares, which now represents approximately 2.7% of its portfolio.
• Recent changes in institutional investor positions included GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its stake by an astonishing 106,402.1%, now holding over 8 million shares worth nearly $7.72 billion.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, to be paid on August 15th, with a dividend yield of 0.56%.

DE Burlo Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 25.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,675 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 6,680 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale accounts for approximately 2.7% of DE Burlo Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. DE Burlo Group Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after buying an additional 8,152,528 shares in the last quarter. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after acquiring an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 775,541 shares of the retailer's stock worth $710,624,000 after purchasing an additional 343,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at $280,046,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price objective on the stock. Nine 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of Costco Wholesale 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $935.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $414.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.06, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $793.00 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $992.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $983.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $1.30 per share. 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 29.50%.

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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