Ellis Investment Partners LLC Has $2.43 Million Stock Position in Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Ellis Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,455 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 25 shares during the quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $2,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,644,711 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $40,332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 443,101 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 0.4% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,332,009 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $4,097,127,000 after purchasing an additional 18,045 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 5.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,907,670 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,695,796,000 after purchasing an additional 191,985 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale in the first quarter worth approximately $3,461,159,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.9% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,357,630 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,175,579,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares in the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total value of $3,093,615.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of Costco Wholesale stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,343,222.10. This represents a 20.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,065.00 to $990.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of 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. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,130.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,100.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $975.00 to $950.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $1,066.23.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:COST opened at $930.01 on Monday. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12 month low of $867.34 and a 12 month high of $1,078.23. The firm has a market cap of $412.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.07, a P/E/G ratio of 5.64 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $952.05 and its 200-day moving average is $972.00.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.56%.

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.