Darwin Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Darwin Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 929 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 16 shares during the quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $790,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Oak Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 4,396 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 12 shares during the period. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 995 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 790 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Finally, LifePro Asset Management lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 358 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 13 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $874.00 to $962.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $775.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $860.00 to $890.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $805.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $710.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Costco Wholesale currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $844.52.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Susan L. Decker sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $876.50, for a total value of $543,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,320,787.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel M. Hines sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $844.20, for a total transaction of $1,266,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,545,746.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,974 shares of company stock valued at $4,252,856. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of COST opened at $915.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 1 year low of $540.23 and a 1 year high of $918.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $860.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $804.43. The firm has a market cap of $405.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.80.

Costco Wholesale Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 26th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 26th. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.75%.

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.