SVB Wealth LLC Has $18.52 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• SVB Wealth LLC has reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 27.4% in Q1, now owning approximately $18.5 million worth of shares.
• Costco reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $4.28 for the last quarter, beating estimates and achieving 8.0% year-over-year revenue growth.
• Institutional investors own about 68.48% of Costco's stock, with several firms like Vanguard and GAMMA Investing increasing their positions recently.

SVB Wealth LLC cut its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 27.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,585 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 7,385 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises approximately 0.8% of SVB Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. SVB Wealth LLC's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $18,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 443,101 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 8,152,528 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 587,303 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 5.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer's stock worth $3,695,796,000 after buying an additional 191,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale during the first quarter worth $3,461,159,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST opened at $958.54 on Friday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a one year low of $867.16 and a one year high of $1,078.23. The company has a market cap of $425.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.37, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $969.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $985.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $63.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.93 billion. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is 29.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,002.77, for a total value of $3,008,310.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 58,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,343,222.10. This trade represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,147 shares of company stock valued at $10,067,740 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on COST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Loop Capital lowered their target price 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, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,050.00.

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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