Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Sells 1,360 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 4.6%, holding 28,116 shares valued at approximately $26.59 million.
• Costco recently reported an EPS of $4.28, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, reflecting an 8% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30, payable on August 15th, resulting in an annualized payout of $5.20 with a dividend yield of 0.5%.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,116 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,360 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $26,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 grew 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. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew 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. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. Erste Group Bank downgraded Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Monday, August 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total transaction of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 directly owned 58,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST traded down $3.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $972.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,637,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,147,194. The stock has a market cap of $431.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.14, a PEG ratio of 6.04 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $972.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $986.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a twelve month low of $867.16 and a twelve month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.78 EPS. The company's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.