Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 364 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 0.2%, now owning 223,309 shares worth approximately $221 million.
• Institutional investors hold 68.48% of Costco's stock, with firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and Vanguard Group Inc. significantly increasing their positions recently.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Costco, with 17 analysts$1,060 and $1,160.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 223,309 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 364 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale makes up 0.7% of Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.05% of Costco Wholesale worth $221,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COST. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $7,717,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,152,528 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at $3,461,159,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 418,980.3% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 2,359,422 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $2,335,686,000 after buying an additional 2,358,859 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 84.0% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 812,188 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $768,114,000 after buying an additional 370,806 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COST. Wolfe Research began coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $1,061.30.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $943.60 on Wednesday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.16 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $418.46 billion, a PE ratio of 53.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 0.97. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $956.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $970.98.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total value of $3,899,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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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