Philadelphia Trust Co. Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Philadelphia Trust Co. has cut its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 36.1%, resulting in ownership of 622 shares valued at approximately $588,000.
• GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increased its stake in Costco by over 106,000%, acquiring more than 8 million shares valued at nearly $7.72 billion.
• Costco recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $4.28, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue growth of 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

Philadelphia Trust Co. lowered its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 36.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 622 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 352 shares during the period. Philadelphia Trust Co.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake 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. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth about $3,461,159,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter worth about $95,452,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 587,303 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $40,332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 443,101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $972.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $431.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.14, a P/E/G ratio of 6.06 and a beta of 0.96. The business's 50-day moving average is $972.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $985.92. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1 year low of $867.16 and a 1 year 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 company had revenue of $63.21 billion for 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%. Costco Wholesale's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. This trade represents a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at $58,705,164.11. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510 over the last 90 days. 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.

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