Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• Stanley Laman Group Ltd. has decreased its stake in Costco Wholesale by 10.2%, now holding 4,688 shares valued at approximately $4.6 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Anderson Financial Strategies LLC and Financial Connections Group Inc., significantly increased their positions in Costco during the second quarter.
• Costco reported a fiscal quarterly earnings beat with $5.87 EPS against estimates of $5.81, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share to be paid on November 14th.

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. cut its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 10.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,688 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 535 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $4,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 900.0% during the 1st quarter. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC now owns 40 shares of the retailer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 975.0% in the second quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 72.0% in the second quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $48,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,042.00 to $1,033.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $1,000.00 target price on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,068.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,912,100. This represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

COST stock opened at $936.33 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $949.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $971.49. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $867.34 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $414.96 billion, a PE ratio of 51.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Costco Wholesale 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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