WS Management Lllp Sells 961 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Key Points

• WS Management Lllp reduced its stake in Costco Wholesale Corporation by 13.3%, selling 961 shares and holding 6,285 shares worth approximately $5,944,000.
• Insider transactions included Director Susan L. Decker selling 547 shares and EVP Patrick J. Callans selling 3,000 shares recently, with total insider sales amounting to $10,067,740 over the last 90 days.
• Analysts generally have a positive outlook on Costco, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $1,050.00 from various financial institutions.

WS Management Lllp lessened its holdings in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,285 shares of the retailer's stock after selling 961 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale makes up about 0.7% of WS Management Lllp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. WS Management Lllp's holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $5,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 24.4% during the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 56 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 20.4% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 65 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 547 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $980.00, for a total value of $536,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,300,380. The trade was a 4.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick J. Callans sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,705,164.11. This represents a 4.87% 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 worth $10,067,740 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COST has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $995.00 to $1,042.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $1,035.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,115.00 to $1,160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,050.00.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

NASDAQ COST opened at $941.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $417.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 0.96. 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 50-day moving average of $968.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $983.88. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 1-year low of $867.16 and a 1-year high of $1,078.23.

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

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is currently 29.50%.

Costco Wholesale Company 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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