Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC has decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.0%, selling 10,131 shares and holding 194,450 shares worth approximately $183.9 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• Costco's stock has garnered multiple positive ratings from analysts, with seventeen analysts rating it as a Buy and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.5%.

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 194,450 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 10,131 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 3.5% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $183,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,384 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Topsail Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter worth about $250,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on 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. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $958.54 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year high of $1,078.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $969.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $985.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $425.09 billion, a PE ratio of 54.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was 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 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 have sold a total of 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding COST? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.