Longbow Finance SA Cuts Stock Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 17.7%, selling 1,622 shares and holding 7,551 shares valued at approximately $7,142,000 at the end of the first quarter.
• GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its investment in Costco, acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares, raising its total to 8,160,190 shares worth around $7.72 billion.
• Costco announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, which will be paid on August 15th, representing an annualized yield of 0.56%.

Longbow Finance SA lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,551 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,622 shares during the quarter. Longbow Finance SA's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $7,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COST. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,901,249,000 after purchasing an additional 252,118 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,457,824 shares of the retailer's stock worth $8,665,921,000 after purchasing an additional 149,209 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 106,402.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,160,190 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,717,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter worth about $5,182,316,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,257,809 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,817,573,000 after purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares in the company, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock valued at $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Mizuho started coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST traded down $2.56 during trading on Monday, hitting $932.92. 738,025 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,205,599. 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 Corporation has a 52-week low of $793.00 and a 52-week high of $1,078.23. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $992.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $984.23. The company has a market cap of $413.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.03, a PEG ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.97.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

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.