TCW Group Inc. Sells 1,787 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 0.9%, selling 1,787 shares and retaining a total of 192,177 shares, valued at approximately $181.76 million.
• Costco's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $4.28 EPS and $63.21 billion in revenue.
• A quarterly dividend of $1.30 is set to be paid on August 15, with an annualized yield of 0.56% and a payout ratio of 29.50%.

TCW Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,177 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 1,787 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises 1.6% of TCW Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. TCW Group Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $181,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peninsula Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Peninsula Wealth LLC now owns 818 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bosun Asset Management LLC now owns 636 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the first quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,547 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares in the last quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. boosted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. NFP Retirement Inc. now owns 980 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $3,163,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Costco Wholesale

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. The trade was a 40.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total value of $2,028,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,210 shares in the company, valued at $8,326,171.50. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

NASDAQ:COST traded down $4.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $930.13. 756,784 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,203,349. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $793.00 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market cap of $412.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's 50-day moving average is $987.99 and its 200-day moving average is $983.87. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The company had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $62.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cfra Research upgraded Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 target price on Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $975.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,060.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,037.48.

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.