Bellevue Asset Management LLC Sells 23 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Bellevue Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 0.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,720 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 23 shares during the quarter. Costco Wholesale accounts for 3.2% of Bellevue Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Bellevue Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $6,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COST. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 3.5% in the second quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 16,888 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $16,718,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Costco Wholesale by 12.4% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. F&V Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. Graybill Wealth Management LTD. purchased a new position in Costco Wholesale in the first quarter valued at about $3,095,000. Finally, Rossmore Private Capital increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.9% during the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 6,687 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $6,325,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COST has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus lifted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,170.00 to $1,200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Costco Wholesale from $1,060.00 to $1,025.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Roth Capital set a $907.00 target price on Costco Wholesale and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,067.19.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:COST opened at $914.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.55. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $867.34 and a fifty-two week high of $1,078.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $952.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $971.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.24, a P/E/G ratio of 5.52 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.81 by $0.06. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.56%.

Insider Activity at Costco Wholesale

In related news, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total value of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Yoram Rubanenko sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $974.96, for a total transaction of $3,899,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,629,419.04. This trade represents a 40.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,981 shares of company stock worth $7,588,685. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.