Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 500 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,800 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up about 1.0% of Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $55,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Corps Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 126 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Farrell Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Farrell Financial LLC now owns 522 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,035 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,638 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,499,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock valued at $7,588,685. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $1,130.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Friday, September 26th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,137.00 to $1,140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,225.00 to $1,130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ COST opened at $914.80 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $952.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $971.76. The stock has a market cap of $405.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The business had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

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.

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