Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST Shares Sold by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Gateway Investment Advisers LLC reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale by 8.1% during Q2, selling 8,429 shares, which now constitutes about 1.0% of their investment portfolio.
• Costco recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, yielding approximately 0.5%, and has a dividend payout ratio of 29.50%.
• Investment analysts have mixed opinions on Costco, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,056.67, while 17 analysts have a Buy rating and 9 have a Hold rating.

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 8.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 95,474 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 8,429 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.0% of Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $94,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st 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 during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,097,127,000 after buying an additional 18,045 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Costco Wholesale during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ COST traded down $1.20 on Friday, hitting $951.16. 4,601,598 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,916,574. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $957.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $972.23. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. 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 market cap of $421.82 billion, a PE ratio of 53.95, a PEG ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of 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. Truist Financial upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,056.67.

Costco Wholesale Company 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.