OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale by 17.0%, holding 2,200 shares valued at $2,080,000 after the sale of 450 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Costco's recent earnings report showed $4.28 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $63.21 billion, an 8.0% increase year-over-year.
• Costco declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, to be paid on August 15th, which corresponds to a 0.5% dividend yield.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,200 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 450 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,080,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,825 shares of the retailer's stock worth $18,165,000 after buying an additional 2,172 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,123 shares of the retailer's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 45.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 117,254 shares of the retailer's stock worth $107,436,000 after buying an additional 36,384 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 4,813 shares of the retailer's stock worth $4,410,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Value Partners LLC increased its position in Costco Wholesale by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 8,501 shares of the retailer's stock worth $7,789,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,037.48.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST stock traded up $2.85 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $955.37. The company had a trading volume of 2,388,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,166,006. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $983.34 and a 200-day moving average of $984.69. The company has a market capitalization of $423.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.19, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.96. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $793.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.48% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Transactions at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total transaction of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,326,171.50. The trade was 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 valued at $9,472,510 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.