Howard Capital Management Inc. Has $11.55 Million Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 30.8%, selling 5,433 shares and now holding 12,207 shares valued at approximately $11.5 million.
• Despite the sell-off by Howard Capital, several hedge funds significantly increased their positions in Costco, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting their holdings by over 106,000%, now owning 8.16 million shares valued at nearly $7.72 billion.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30, representing an annualized yield of 0.56%, with a payout ratio of 29.50%.

Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,207 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 5,433 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.2% of Howard Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $11,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,665,921,000 after buying an additional 149,209 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% during the 1st 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 period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,990,957 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,656,828,000 after acquiring an additional 18,897 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price 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 increased their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,326,171.50. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of COST stock traded down $7.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $927.51. 1,682,635 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,941,458. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $986.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $983.48. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $793.00 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $411.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.50%.

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.