Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Sells 2,379 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST)

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 20.3%, selling 2,379 shares during the first quarter and now holding 9,358 shares valued at $8.85 million.
• Costco recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, payable on August 15th, with a dividend yield of 0.56%.
• Costco's latest earnings report showed a profit of $4.28 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and the company's revenue for the quarter was $63.21 billion, up 8.0% year-over-year.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 20.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,358 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 2,379 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $8,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,739,175 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $8,901,249,000 after buying an additional 252,118 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,095,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $241,000. 68.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

Shares of COST stock opened at $933.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $414.21 billion, a PE ratio of 52.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $990.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $984.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $793.00 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The retailer reported $4.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.04. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 30.48%. The business had revenue of $63.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Costco Wholesale's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is 29.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COST has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,150.00 to $1,225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded shares of Costco Wholesale from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,037.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 owned 5,774 shares in the company, valued at $5,629,419.04. This represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,014.15, for a total transaction of $2,028,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,210 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have sold 9,547 shares of company stock worth $9,472,510. 0.18% of the stock is owned by 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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